Sonic Chronicles: Land of Harmony
by Atlas Ultima
Summary: After yet another battle against evil, Starlight takes time to relax with reading when she comes across an interesting book about other worlds. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she summons a portal to see what lies beyond, only to bring another being to hers. Sonic's the name and speed's his game as he finds himself on yet another world adventure.
1. P: Simple Curiosity

**Let's try this one more time... Hello, fellow readers! Welcome to yet another Sonic x MLP story of mine. So, what's the gimmick this time? Random shenanigans? Post-apocalyptic final stand? Actually, let's just do a simple story of adventure across the land of Equestria. Now, what are the rules?**

**1\. Like my previous stories, no pairings. Nothing against them, it just doesn't serve the story I'm going for.**

**2\. The title is mostly for the type of story I imagine it to be, mostly an action RPG platformer game.**

**3\. Yes, this will have OCs too. More on that later.**

**4\. The timeline for the worlds are gonna be after Sonic Unleashed and in between Season 8 and 9 of MLP.**

**With that stuff said, let's get this party started!**

**Prologue: Simple Curiosity**

The castle was rather quiet as the morning sun rose up in the sky, shining through the windows as a unicorn was sitting in the library doing some morning reading. Her persian blue eyes glances at the pages she flips through, glad to be able to relax after the recent incident of evil. After finishing the current book, she looks at the bookshelf behind her before picking another book at random.

The book she chose was rather interesting as the cover tells her that it was a spellbook that wasn't the usual ones. Opening it, it turns out that the book was about interdimensional travel and discoveries. Wasting no more time, she opens it to a page that tells her about various spells ranging from pocket dimensions to even conjuring portals to other worlds.

"Portals into other worlds?" She thought out loud to herself, her curiosity now peaking at what could be beyond the stars.

Her eyes then caught a glance at the next page she flips to, revealing instructions on how to create such portals. A huge smile appears on her face before she headed on outside to perform a field test.

Before long, she reaches an empty field near the Everfree Forest for her little experiment. Opening the book back up to the instructions page, she wasted no time in reading the words for the spell.

"Let's see..." She muttered before reciting the words, "Oh spirits from beyond, show me proof from the stars-!"

Her horn shined in a bright white aura during the incantation before a sudden burst of magic energy fired, flying high into the sky way farther than she expected towards the Everfree Forest. Landing on her back from the recoil, she quickly sat back up with her eyes widening in surprise.

"Oops... Hopefully, it doesn't actually work. Maybe just a fluke." Upon realizing that her skill is pretty much anything but, she quickly headed out into the forest.

* * *

Meanwhile in another dimension, the sun was also rising over the horizon as a familiar blue hedgehog sat on one of the rocks to watch it. It's already been some time after the awakening and defeat of Dark Gaia due to the actions of a mad scientist when he made sure to keep Windmill Isle as one of his mental landmarks now, as it was where that adventure began. His mind drifting off, he then finds himself looking down at the bracelet around his wrist that was a reminder of a dear friend.

_"Sonic, you must live. I'll always be here by you, as part of the earth you tread. I'll never forget you."_

Those words echoed in his mind again, a small smile forming on his face before looking back at the sun. A few quiet moments pass by before a small distorted sound broke the silence, his ears perking up as he then got on his feet.

"What a weird sound." Sonic muttered as he looks around for the source.

He then feels a breeze strangely going upwards, looking up to see a small ball of light a few feet in the air above. The ball then started to slowly grow in size as the breeze turned into a strong wind, catching the hedgehog off guard a bit.

"What's happening!? This another one of Egghead's traps?" Sonic thought out loud as he quickly sprints to get out of range.

Next thing he knew, the ball of light expanded rapidly to the size of a boulder as a strong whirlwind was being sucked into it like a vortex. Even with his speed, Sonic finds himself being pulled back more and more before being swept off his feet. Despite reaching for something to grab onto, he had no luck as he got sucked into the vortex, it closing soon after.

* * *

A portal had formed in a strange forest as Sonic shoots out into the air, reflexively grabbing a branch on one of the trees to regain some sort of footing. He turns his head to where the portal was, only to see it just close up entirely.

"Well, shoot." He said with annoyance before dropping to the ground, landing on his feet.

Looking around at his surroundings, he finds himself in a forest. While he's been familiar with forests and such, there was something a bit different about this time that was most likely due to the vortex.

"These woods have a different feel to them compare to home. Well, I know standing around ain't gonna do nothing. Time to explore!" Now having his signature smirk, Sonic warms up his feet a bit before running off.

The forest itself was rather thick, making Sonic use his classic spindash to cut through some of the more thicker vines before bouncing up to the bigger trees, avoiding the river down below as he quickly leaps off one trunk to the next. Landing back on the ground, he dashes down a narrow path that then leads to a bigger path before stopping. What made him stop was the fact that there was a rather big crocodile next to a swamp area that looked to be made from stone with rocks for scales off the beaten path.

"A moving statue? That's pretty cool." Sonic admits.

He then hears flapping of wings, looking up to see yet another cool sight of what seems to be a lion flying overhead. It looked around before seeing something in the distance, which was right towards Sonic's direction. It flew downwards until landing a few feet across the blue hedgehog in his way. Getting a closer look, the wings are more bat-shaped and the tail is more akin to a scorpion.

"Now I met a few lions myself before, but you take the cake in terms of looks." Sonic recalls the lions he has met before.

The scorpion-tailed lion growls as it bares its claws, standing on its hind legs to tower over its 'prey'.

"Oh, I get it!" Sonic realizes the situation, "Sorry to disappoint, but-"

The lion slams its paws down where Sonic was standing, only to hit the ground he once stood on. It was confused at what just happened as Sonic continued his sentence from behind it.

"I'm not one to stick around for long. See ya later!" The bat-winged lion turns around just in time to see the blue hedgehog run off in an instant.

The lion stares at what just happened before simply blinking once and leaving the area.

Continuing on the path, Sonic finds himself in a rather big clearing before taking it a bit slower to get a better feel of the place. So far, it seems that this place is more of a hazardous area compared to Knothole, but most likely has much more that can't be seen anywhere else. Still keeping his fast pace with speed walking, his ears picked up the sounds of various birds and rustling leaves from the breeze that kept the scenery from being quiet before it was suddenly silent.

His nose then started to itch a bit, making him rub his finger under it as he stops to look around at the nearest surroundings. As he figured from the brief itch, there was danger lurking by as he sees a pack of yellow eyes looking through the bushes.

"That's not a very nice way to welcome your guests." Sonic casually pointed out, "I mean, I can smell you from here!"

What he didn't expect was a pack of wolves that looked like they literally came from nature with leaves and sticks forming their entire body as they slowly stalked around the blue hedgehog with growls to boot.

"Oh, I get it! That must be your natural scent, huh?" Sonic wasn't the least bit scared as he throws out another quip.

Now ready to pounce, the wolves dived at him in unison to catch their new prey. Unfortunately for them, Sonic is not like other prey as he simply sidestepped the group attack, making them collide into each other. The resulting impact made the wolves break apart into bits and pieces of their former selves.

"Huh... that was anti-climatic." Sonic scratched his head at this 'threat' he encountered.

He will admit, this forest is getting more interesting by the minute before seeing the sticks and leaves twitch more and more. He didn't feel any rumbling, so it wasn't an earthquake as they connected with each other into one. He took a few steps back as the form was growing bigger and bigger until forming one giant wolf, staring down at the blue blur with glowing green eyes.

"Now this is more like it!" Sonic was now more excited about this species of wolf before quickly sidestepping one of the paws slamming upon where he was, "Can't catch me!"

Sonic ran around the wolf in circles before running up its left arm, performing his signature homing attack against the head to stun it. The point of impact was heavily dented with broken sticks and such as he was going up with his remaining momentum before channeling energy into his feet.

"This will blow you away!" He wasn't wrong as he then performed a backflip kick, firing a blast of wind energy at his opponent at the speed of sound.

His attack hit its mark, blowing the big wolf away as a small sound from his move echoed throughout the area. Upon landing on his feet, the giant slammed into the ground hard enough to break it apart again.

He then notices a green gem that was laying on the ground where the giant wolf fell, which looks a lot like the Sol Emeralds from Blaze's dimension except slightly smaller in size. Before he moved in to pick it up, the sticks and leaves moved to form together again to bring the giant wolf back within a large whirlwind-like aura.

"I don't know where you got that, but that don't belong here." Sonic mostly said to himself before getting ready to continue the fight.

The wolf goes on the offensive again as it swings its claw in a wide arc, creating a shockwave that forces Sonic to run out of the range to avoid damage. Fortunately, this works in his favor as it gives him time to prepare one of his stronger skills. Performing a spindash in place, he then charges light energy from his surroundings to power it up.

The giant wolf had lost sight of the blue hedgehog as it looks around over the surrounding trees, trying to find its speedy prey. It didn't take long before seeing a light shine through the leaves straight north of its position, getting its full attention to attack. It crushed any flora and fauna in its path as it closes the distance, leaping the rest of the way for a giant pounce. Next thing that happened, a beam of light shot right for the giant and to the sky in an instant before falling apart again.

Sonic uncurls at the height of the launch, revealing that he grabbed the green gem when he went through the wolf. Holding it in his hand, he notices the energy it gave off was familiar like the Sol and Chaos Emeralds, but was different at the same time. It then glows, creating streams of wind energy around him to slow his decent until landing back on the ground safely.

Sonic puts the gem away before doing a small victory pose out of habit with a smirk on his face. He then hears a female voice from the bushes nearby, "Your skills are aggressive, yet are very impressive."

Turning towards where the voice was heard, he sees a zebra walking over to where he is. After all the danger, he is a bit relieved to see a friendly face.

"Thanks. Was expecting more, though." He admits before introducing himself, "Name's Sonic the Hedgehog. And you are?"

"Zecora is my name, rhyming is my game. I live here in the Everfree forest and yet you seem like a tourist." The zebra returns the gesture in kind.

"The Everfree Forest, huh?" As far as Sonic knew, there wasn't a forest with that name from where he's from along with talking animals that walk on all fours.

"Best we move elsewhere or danger will return in the air." Zecora warns him of any more wolves or worse that may appear during the conversation.

"Good point. Lead the way." Sonic agrees with her there.

* * *

Lucky for him, Zecora's home wasn't too far as they enter the hut. It was quite the cozy little place, having various herbs and medicines along with decorative masks on the shelves. There was also a cauldron spot in the center of the room, which she clarifies as mainly a decoration to tie the hut together.

"Do you have animals like me in the forest?" Sonic wondered.

"Not in the Everfree Forest have I seen someone like you, but there are animals that walk on two legs without having natural fur in blue." She answers as she looks through her books.

"So I'm not that out of the ordinary. Do they wear clothing like gloves or shoes?" He continues with the questions as he walks over to a table.

"Some do and some don't, either as normal clothing or special occasions. Don't worry, you will not fall under accusation." She answers as she then pulls out an interesting book and brings it over to the table.

Once she places it on the table, it turns out to be a special spellbook that talks about other worlds. Something about that gave Sonic an idea of what is currently happening as he spoke, "Judging by this, are you implying that I'm really far from home?"

"It's good that you are perceptive as I want to avoid being repetitive." She basically confirms his suspicions, which just adds more questions.

"And how exactly did you know that I wasn't from your world?" He places his hand on his chin as he asks this, curious at what her answer may be.

"Your speed is unlike any I have seen, even the fastest spells are not as keen. I would be lying if you make even Rainbow Dash not go into trying." Zecora compliments him while explaining why.

Sonic was of course flattered at her comment, but she mentions someone else while doing so. Whoever this Rainbow Dash is must be quite the runner if his speed would give them a challenge from the other inhabitants. Putting the need to race in the back of his mind for the moment, he still had more questions to ask.

"If you know all this, how exactly did I show up here?" Sonic puts the cards on the table for the big answer.

"I'm afraid that the answer is not from me, but rather somepony else who has the key." Zecora still answers in her rhyming, but gives Sonic a more vague one than the others.

"So if it's not you, then who or what brought me here?" He thought out loud to himself before the two heard knocking at the door.

"It may be possible that your answer is here, hopefully one you like to hear." Sonic was glad about that, he can only take rhyming riddles for so long without being rude.

Zecora walks over to the door and opens it, showing that a unicorn was on the other side as she greeted the visitor.

"Greetings, fellow traveler. Perhaps you have something to unravel?" It seems that Zecora's rhyming also confuses other... ponies.

"Uh... Oh! You must be Zecora. Twilight has told me about you, your rhyming being one of them." The unicorn responded back with.

"Ah yes, the alicorn who is now princess. However, that is not who is on my mind this instance." Zecora admits, "You must be her student Starlight, correct?"

"I actually graduated from student status, last time I checked." Sonic notices the intentional rhyme there with Zecora's previous sentence, which he decides to step in to move this conversation along.

"Sorry to interrupt, but how is this gonna help my situation?" He catches both of their attentions, which the unicorn called Starlight suddenly zoomed right to him before taking the time to analyze him.

A few seconds pass by in silence before she spoke, "You're not from around here, are you?"

Sonic kinda figures that this question will be raised up more in the future, but answers just to humor her. "Last time I checked, I'm not walking on all fours."

"Then, did you come through a portal of some kind?" THAT got his immediate attention.

"Let me guess, was it you?" Sonic tapped his foot as he waited for the answer.

He didn't have to wait long to see the obvious signs as she nervously smiles with an equally nervous chuckle to match.

"...And without an invitation to boot?" He shows a small smirk as he adds that to the mix.

Her nervousness changes to confusion along with Zecora being just as confused, "I'm sorry?"

"It took me a bit to figure it out, but this is like the other times I went to another world other than mine. Guess what threw me off was the lack of a welcoming committee." Sonic clarifies for the two.

Starlight and Zecora are surprised at this, which the former was more curious about the other worlds he went to. Before she was able to ask any more questions, a sudden beeping sound is coming from seemingly nowhere before Sonic recognizes it. Moving his right glove to show his wrist, a wristwatch was revealed to be the culprit as he presses the screen.

The image changes from a green phone icon to another animal that is bipedal like him, except it's a fox with yellow fur.

"Yo, Tails! Was wondering if you could get reception here." Sonic greeted his buddy with the other quadrupeds watching with interest.

"Did you go somewhere with no reception again?" Tails kinda figured he would be in the middle of a place with alot of interference.

"Kind of. I don't know how you did, but it's nice I have a connection back. I'm actually in another world again." Sonic told him about the other times he went to different worlds, which Tails admits to have curiosity about.

"Aww, you promised that you'll take me with you next time." Tails didn't sound all that hurt, more like a bit of sarcasm that wasn't hostile.

"Well you know, nothing is boring with me." Sonic chuckles a bit after that statement.

"How did you get there, anyways?" To provide the short answer for his buddy, he moves his arm to show him Starlight and Zecora. "Uh, hi."

"Hello. Um, how are you in that?" Starlight stepped closer to examine Sonic's wristwatch as she greeted back.

"I'm not in the watch, it's more of a moving picture projection in real time." Tails briefly explains to her, who caught on what he means.

"Which reminds me, do you have a way for me to return home?" Sonic did have a good point as he asks the unicorn.

"Yeah... Give me a second." He didn't like the way she said that as she quickly pulled out a book that was the same as the one Zecora pulled out earlier.

Flipping through the pages while reading every word in mere seconds, Starlight's expression went deeper and deeper with worry until she closed it completely with a blank stare.

"...It doesn't say." She admits, much to Sonic's dismay.

"You hear that, Tails?" He looks at his wristwatch as he said that.

"Yup. Don't worry, I can try making a portal device to bring you back." His two-tailed buddy reassures him.

"Such magic is possible, though such a device may not be. At least, it sounds that way to me." Zecora spoke in rhymes in response to his idea, which Tails was more perplexed at her speech pattern.

"She rhymes... a lot." Sonic summarizes for him.

"Really? That's pretty impressive." Tails compliments her skill with words, "What is the name of that world, anyways?"

"The land of Equestria. Don't be fooled by the name, though. We prefer the term 'pony' over 'horse'." Starlight gives a clear answer for the two.

"Equestria, gotcha. I'll get started on the portal device and get back to you later." Tails informs them about his plan.

"Thanks a lot, buddy. I'll see you then." After he said that, the transmission ended as Sonic turns his attention to the other two. "With that taken care of, how about a tour of your world? I always like to travel around."

"Actually, I know a friend of mine that loves meeting new ponies, throws them a nice little welcoming party whenever she can." Starlight brings up, "She's in Ponyville, which isn't very far from the forest."

"Sounds like a nice way to meet the locals." Sonic had a little smile at the thought of a party, "Well, it's been fun Zecora. Thanks for your hospitality."

"It was my pleasure, Mr. Sonic. You will enjoy our world, that is a promise." Zecora reassures him.

"Just Sonic is fine and I'll take your word for it." He then turns to Starlight, "You're the tour guide, lead the way."

"Gladly. Thanks for finding him and nice meeting you, Zecora." She thanks her zebra friend, who simply nodded in response, before Sonic suddenly stopped in his tracks and turns back around.

"Oh, almost forgot." Sonic then walks over to Zecora before pulling out the green gem he got earlier, "I found this with the living tree beast I fought. Does this belong in your world?"

"Hmm..." Zecora studied the gem for a little bit before coming to a conclusion, "It reminds me of the Elements of Harmony of old, but the energy it emits is uncontrolled. I'm not familiar with this gem, but I feel you'll find out where it stems."

More questions pop in Sonic's head, but his need to explore took priority as he puts the green gem back in his 'hammerspace'. "Thanks for the clarification. Now, we go."

With him and Starlight exiting to reach the outside, Sonic started stretching his legs as he spoke. "Now, which way is this Ponyville?"

"You just have to head north from here." Starlight gives the simple answer to that.

"A simple jog will get us there in no time." Sonic finishes up with his stretches after saying that, "Think you can keep up?"

Starlight uses a simple levitation spell that makes her float a couple of feet above the ground, "I'm able to cruise with my fast pegasus friend, so-"

Next thing she knew, Sonic suddenly zooms off towards their destination, leaving her stunned for a moment before going after him to catch up. She was surprised at his speed that would usually be seen with pegasi like the Wonderbolts, making questions form in her head as she caught up to his side.

"There you are. Pretty sure that I'm set on cruise speed for you." Sonic casually joked about.

"Are you using magic to be this fast?" This is one of the first questions she had pop into her head.

"Nope, all natural like my fur." He gives the honest answer, seeing no reason why not.

"What about your friend? Is he fast like you?"

"He can keep up with me, if that's what you mean. As for anyone else, there are few that can rival my high speeds."

After he said that, it wasn't long before the two arrived at their destination. It was a nice little town with a few of the folks going about their way with others even doing business. Starlight floats herself back down to the ground as Sonic looks around.

"Pretty peaceful place. Though, I'm feeling a bit hungry from earlier. Anywhere in mind to eat at?" He pats his tummy a bit as he said that.

"Depends, do you like sweets?" She knew just where to take him as she again lead the way.

"I don't mind them. As long as you guys have chili dogs somewhere, I'm good." He admits.

"...Um, what are those?" The instant she asked that, he froze stiff.

She looked at him with concern as his eyes stared straight at nothing and his limbs were quite straight. Heck, she didn't even see him breathe at the moment.

"...Sonic?" Next thing she knew, he yells at the top of his lungs.

* * *

"Got some extra books for you, Twilight." A young purple winged dragon walks into the main room with a couple of books in hand as he speaks.

The pony he's talking to looks up from the book she was currently reading to respond, "Thanks, Spike. Place them on the table, I'll sort them out later."

Just as he puts them on said table, the doors leading to the room slam open, shaking the castle for a brief moment as a excited pink pony suddenly appears in front of her.

"TWILIGHT! There's a blue hedgehog wearing white gloves and red shoes passed out in Ponyville! You gotta see, you gotta see!" Her loud voice and rapid delivery were the usual for the two, but the context was what has their attention.

"Wait, what about a blue hedgehog?" Spike managed to catch that part, at least.

"Pinkie, can you repeat-" Before she can finish her sentence, her and Spike were getting dragged out of the room and out the castle before realizing it.

Their surroundings were a blur as the two were being pulled by their hyperactive friend, practically flying in the air before Pinkie came to a stop. Twilight and Spike were a bit dizzy from the sudden speed as Pinkie was bouncing around the unconscious hedgehog.

"See, see! I told you!" She reaffirmed her point as they see Starlight poking her hoof at his head.

"Starlight? Do you know what's going on?" Twilight was the first to ask the question.

"Well, considering that I brought him here..." She admits, "I know Pinkie is excited about it."

Speaking of Pinkie, she was now right next to Twilight somehow as she spoke. "And WHY shouldn't I be? This is a new friend from, no joke, another world!"

Those last two words definitely got Twilight's attention, "Another world!?"

"Ugh..." It seems their yelling was causing the hedgehog to stir, "I hear ya Tails, but you know I can't understand your tech-talk..."

"What's he talking about?" Twilight was understandably confused at what he just said.

"Tails is a friend of his and no, he's not here." Starlight clarified for her.

Sonic's eyes started to open as he slowly sat up, "What a weird dream..."

"What was it about?" Pinkie popped up next to him as she asked that question.

"Something about Tails' portal device and a world without-" Sonic cuts himself off as he realizes something, "It wasn't a dream."

"Before you pass out again, what world did you come from? Are you from Canterlot High?" Spike walks towards the hedgehog as the latter got up to his feet.

Sonic looks at the young dragon curiously as he processes the question, "Uh, I'm not familiar with that place. I'm from Mobius."

"Mobius? What's that place like?" Twilight had a quill and paper in her aura as she asked that.

"I'm just as curious too." Starlight agreed with her there.

Sonic's stomach growled a bit louder, getting their attention. "Well, I'll be happy to answer once I get some food."

"Perfect timing! Time for your welcome party!" Pinkie exclaimed, dragging him along towards Sugarcube Corner as the others follow after them.

While this was happening, a pair of orange eyes was peeking through the bushes, scanning the surrounding area in confusion.

"Colorful ponies? What part of the world am I at now?" The voice connected to the eyes questioned in a quiet voice.

**And done! All right, a couple of things to point out. The beginning was short mainly just to jump right into the adventure, similar to early sonic games when I think about it.**

**The first level takes place in the Everfree Forest, titled "Everfree Explorer". It's mostly a linear path, but it does have a couple of alternate ways such as thick tree branches and gaining air by swinging on vines to find various goodies. Average time is about three minutes.**

**Ponyville is the first hub world, going from the entrance to Everfree Forest to Princess Twilight's Castle and Sweet Apple Acres to Fluttershy's Cottage. It will involve the various ponies that lives in the village for NPCs from the fan favorites to even the students at Friendship School. Side missions mainly take place in the town with the occasional forest ones.**

**This is also my first time writing Zecora in a long time, so I hope I did good with the rhyming. Starlight makes her debut in my stories and I'm happy about that, I really like her character.**

**If this chapter is a little too fast, later ones will slow down a bit for the interactions to be more fleshed out.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading and I'll see you later!**


	2. C1: The Bigger Picture

**Hello, fellow readers! Welcome back to the Sonic Chronicles! Last time, our blue blur hero finds himself in yet another world, thanks to Starlight's little experiment. However, he takes this as another new adventure along with traveling in brand new scenery and meeting the colorful locals along the way.**

**While he's having a welcoming party after arriving in Ponyville, it seems that there may be something else there that they have yet to meet.**

**Before heading to our next chapter, let's see what we got:**

**greninja32: Thanks, man. I intend to do just that.**

**Thanks for the feedback, guys! With that said, let's jump right in!**

**Chapter 1: The Bigger Picture**

Sugarcube Corner was booming as usual, this time for a party that has recently started for our blue hero. The local ponies are pretty much used to this, but a blue hedgehog as the guest? This they gotta see.

Sonic chuckles to himself before pointing out the obvious, "I know I'm the guest of honor, but... do I stand out that much?"

What he means is pretty much everypony is looking right at him as Princess Twilight sat down in front with her quill and paper next to Starlight, which the latter answers his question. "It's pretty rare that a bipedal hedgehog would be here in Ponyville, so you can't really blame them."

"Heh, good point." Sonic sees what she means by the crowd.

"So, your friends are also like you? Like other hedgehogs and stuff?" Twilight continues on with her questions.

"Yeah, pretty much. My best friend is a two-tailed fox, which is why we call him 'Tails' for short." Sonic gave them the short answer for now about the long list of friends he has.

"Any other species you met on your adventures?" Spike was a bit curious about that.

"Totally." Sonic then started counting on his fingers as he lists down what he has met, "Echidnas, cats, dogs, wolves, rabbits, and many more."

"Fascinating..." Twilight continues writing notes before asking the next question, "Are there ponies in your world too?"

Sonic actually took a second to think, trying to remember if he ever has when the doors open once again. He snaps out of his thoughts when he hears a pegasus call him out, "Where's this 'blue hedgehog' I've heard about!?"

Twilight stops her note-taking as her and Starlight also looks at who just entered, "Hey, Rainbow." The latter casually greets her friend, "Guess that you are eager to meet him?"

By the appearance of the pegasus and her friend saying her name, Sonic puts two and two together as her being Rainbow Dash. Also judging by her entrance, she has a competitive side as well.

"Pinkie told me this hedgehog dude is pretty fast." Rainbow then lands next to Starlight before having a small staredown with Sonic.

A short moment passed before he broke it with a smile, "Like what you see?"

Rainbow responded with a confident grin, "You may look cool, but I don't really see what they mean."

The sound of glass shattering interrupted their conversation and the party entirely as they turn their attention to the disturbance.

* * *

Excluding Rainbow, Pinkie was escorting the rest of her friends to the party as Rarity was speaking. "I can't stay for very long, sadly. I found the most beautiful diamond that's just begging to be made with a gorgeous dress to match."

"I'm pretty sure ya can spare an hour or two outside your shop for a little party." Applejack tries to convince her otherwise.

Fluttershy flies over to cruise next to Pinkie before asking a question, "So um, you only mentioned that this hedgehog is blue. Is he like Grubber?"

"You mean Tempest's friend?" Applejack heard the last part and wants to make sure she heard right.

"Nope, much different! He's taller, spikier, and has these shining red shoes!" Pinkie clarifies for the three.

"Shining, you say? Perhaps I may stay a bit longer to see what you mean." Rarity was now curious, thanks to that little piece of info.

Next thing they knew, Pinkie started to shake like a firework is about to go off, lasting only for about a second before stopping.

"Whoa! I haven't had that kind of shake in a long time." Pinkie was also surprised at this.

"Do you know what might have caused it this time?" Applejack wondered, a little bit worried since this usually means something strange happens.

Pinkie looks around the area until her eyes landed on something that was hopping from roof to roof until it stopped on top of Sugarcube Corner, immediately zooming ahead of her friends who were now more confused than before.

Quietly hopping onto the rooftop, she sees that the stranger was actually another hedgehog much like Sonic. There were some differences she notices soon after such as a forest green color for the fur and a brown scarf around the neck with both ends behind him. From curiosity to excitement, she then leaps right into the hedgehog for a big hug.

"Hi, new friend!" Much to the stranger's shock and confusion, her hug tackle pushes the two right into one of the windows of the bakery.

Before the party processed what just happened, the green hedgehog falls onto the floor close next to where Sonic was standing. Pinkie stood on top of the hedgehog's back with a big smile before speaking.

"Two hedgehogs on the same day!? Double party!" The pink pony was quite giddy about this, only to realize that she may have actually hurt the green hedgehog with her little stunt.

* * *

_"Ugh... what just happened..."_

Lifting his head slowly to avoid any sudden sharp pain, he tries to open his eyes and only saw blurs of objects and animals. His ears was able to pick up on voices nearby as he heard their words.

"I thought it was just you that came out of that portal." A female voice was heard, sounding rather confused about his presence.

"I was. Maybe your little stunt may have caused more portals elsewhere." A male voice retorts with, sounding rather casually about it.

He then sees a huge blob of pink enter his slightly less blurry vision before hearing a rather cheery female voice, "Helloooo? You awake yet?"

_"Wait, that voice... Oh no!"_

Ignoring any immediate pain, he shot up to his feet and tried running for the door before suddenly springing back onto the floor. Sliding a bit on impact, he then finds himself face to upside-down face with the pink pony.

"Sorry, my hoof was on your scarf. Where were you going, anyways?" She was rather cheery about that oversight, making him not relax in the slightest.

"Uh... I-I just want some fresh air?" It was a lame excuse, but it was the first one that came to mind.

"...OK!" She backs up a few steps, getting off his scarf in the process.

"Thank you!" He briefly said as he shot right back up to his feet.

Sprinting right for the door, he then realizes it was blocked by other ponies entering the shop and stops in his tracks.

"Wait, I thought there was only one of them." The unicorn in the small group was confused like the others.

_"One of us?"_ Looking around frantically, he then sees a blue hedgehog like him and zooms past the ponies before hiding behind him.

"Whoa, dude! Calm down!" Sonic was surprised at how jumpy the green hedgehog was.

"I wish... I could... but..." Judging from the heavy breathing Sonic was hearing, the stranger sounded like he was about to pass out.

Knowing he has to do something, Sonic grabs the hedgehog and zooms past the ponies in an instant before exiting the establishment. Said ponies were baffled at what just happened until Rainbow blinks once.

"Well... I guess he wasn't all talk." She mutters to herself.

* * *

Once the two were a good distance away by arriving in the town square, Sonic stops in his tracks before placing the green hedgehog on a bench.

"OK, just take some deep breaths and calm down." Our blue hero tries easing the newcomer slowly, which the latter accepted the advice in order to relax.

During this time, Sonic took the time to get a better look at his appearance. His fur was forest green in color with peach skin and orange eyes to match. His stature was similar to Sonic's, but seems to be a bit shorter in comparison. Along with the brown scarf, he also wore white gloves and custom shoes like his that was blue in color.

After about a minute of deep breathing exercises, the newcomer introduces himself.

"My n-name is um, Naturo or Nat for short. Sorry for earlier, I didn't expect to crash the party like that. I wasn't sure where I was at and high ground was a good idea at the time for a better view."

"Understandable, you are in another world after all." Sonic can see someone doing that in this kind of situation.

"Considering the inhabitants, I believe that part." Nat looks around at his surroundings before back at Sonic, "I didn't catch your name, sir."

"Oh, the name's Sonic." He gives a small introduction before continuing, "Though, I don't think I've seen you before. Are you from Mobius?"

Nat looks at him with a confused look, "I'm not familiar with... what was it, Mobius?"

Sonic was surprised at this question before clarifying for him, "That's the name of the planet where I'm from."

Sonic then mutters to himself with his next sentence, "But if that's the case... then my world may not be the only one affected by that spell."

If a ripple effect like that has happened, then he needs to figure out how to fix it before it gets worse. Turning his attention to his wristwatch, he contacts Tails for ideas to do just that. After a few seconds, the image of the two-tailed fox appears on-screen.

"Yo, Tails. I got some new details about my little trip here." Sonic started the conversation with before moving his wrist to have Tails see Naturo, "Seems that I wasn't the only one that got dragged here. Nat, meet my best buddy Tails."

"Hi." Nat does a small wave as he said hello.

"Nice to meet you." Tails returns the gesture right back, "Were you dropped there from Mobius too?"

"No. My world is called Prisma, named after the island that inhabits it known as the Prism Kingdom." Nat answers for the two.

Sonic was immediately reminded of their adventures with Blaze, which Tails thought the same thing out loud. "Not being rude or anything, but that sounds similar to the Sol Dimension that Blaze is from."

"Blaze? Is she a friend of yours?" Nat sounded like he knew who they were talking about, which Sonic asks him this time. "Yeah. Have you heard of her?"

"I've heard that someone of the same name has met with Prince Sora in the past, but that's all I know." Nat answers from what he remembered.

Speaking of Blaze, Sonic remembers the gem he picked up back in the Everfree Forest. If it wasn't one of the Sol Emeralds, perhaps it's from Prisma instead?

Having this thought, he pulls out the green gem from his 'hyperspace' to show him. "Hey, Nat. Do you know what this is?"

Upon seeing it, Nat stood up from the bench in surprise. "Where did you get that!?"

"I found it with some wood wolves in the forest." Sonic answers before Tails spoke up, "Mind if I see it?"

Sonic happily obliges, showing his friend the gem he found. "Wait, isn't that one of the Sol Emeralds?"

"That's what I thought too, but it looks smaller and the energy it gives off is different." Sonic briefly explains to the two.

"You're right. That's one of the Prism Gems from my world." Nat confirms his observation before pointing at the gem, "That one has the power to manipulate and even conjure the winds around the user."

"Really?" Sonic was impressed by what it really was as he remembers his safe landing upon grabbing it.

"Yeah, it's a pretty big deal there. May I hold onto it?" Nat holds out his hand as he asks the blue hero, which the latter didn't see why not as he gives him the gem.

"If one of those gems are over there, then do you think that the Chaos Emeralds are too?" Tails wondered, making Sonic have an epiphany about the current situation.

"Tails, keep working on the portal device. I may need some backup." Sonic had a more stern tone when he says this, which Tails picks up on immediately.

"Don't worry, I'll get it done. See ya soon!" Tails then ends the transmission, leaving Sonic and Nat by themselves.

"I take it that the Chaos Emeralds are from your world?" The latter assumes from what Tails said earlier.

"Yeah. Seven of them, to be exact. The Sol Emeralds have seven, too." Sonic clarifies about the emeralds.

"There are also seven Prism Gems total. Looks like that really is a lucky number, I guess." Nat makes a small joke with his observation, which Sonic notices with a small chuckle.

"Guess so. Oh shoot!" He then realizes something, "I forgot to put a rain check on the party!"

"No need!" The two jumped at the sudden voice of Pinkie who popped up from behind the bench, Nat taking cover behind Sonic from the surprise.

"H-How long were you there!?" The former was still processing her sudden appearance as he questions her, who was pretty casual with her answer.

"Long enough to hear the conversation with your best friend from your world and the possibility of multiple worlds colliding together." Pinkie gestures with her hooves as she spoke, surprising the two with her accuracy.

Sonic was the first to recover from her sudden entrance, "Well, that's good to hear. All we gotta do is tell the others about-"

"Also no need!" Pinkie then picks up her friends in a pile who were also behind the bench with her, "They also heard the conversation too!"

"...What just happened?" Rainbow was speaking for the group with that question.

**And done! Shorter chapter this time, but this is more of a introduction to the grander scheme of the plot I'm doing with this story.**

**I also tried doing a bit more comedy than usual for some scenes, which are a little bit of experimentation honestly.**

**Fun fact, if anyone has read my first ever story, a certain name may look familiar to you. As to why, that'll be explained much later.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!**


	3. C2: Expect the Unexpected

**Hello, fellow readers! Welcome back to the Sonic Chronicles! Last time, Naturo was introduced along with the idea of other dimensions being affected from the portal spell, which Sonic had experience with due to previous adventures. Thanks to Pinkie, the Mane Seven and Spike are now aware of the bigger picture without having to repeat their explanation.**

**However, it seems that they may not be the only ones that came to the same conclusion.**

**With that said, let's begin!**

**Chapter 2: Expect the Unexpected**

After arriving at Twilight's Castle via a quick teleport, Sonic is currently looking through the bookshelves as Twilight and the others sat in their seats overlooking the map, "If what you said about the rift was correct, then I'm curious if the map can detect the problem." Starlight had a good point there.

"Well if it's not showing up, then probably not." Rainbow counters with, "Our cutie marks would have appeared by now."

Nat was rather intrigued by the map itself, being rather detailed with various landscapes and scenery for all to see. "Your world is very beautiful." He gladly compliments out loud.

"Thank you." Fluttershy was the first to respond to his comment, "I guess your world is similar?"

"Um, yes and no. I live where nature is prominent." Nat clarifies before remembering something, "Wait, did Pinkie start to eavesdrop when me and Sonic introduced ourselves?"

"Nope, it was when you were talking to his wristwatch!" Pinkie answers, with the last part confusing the others.

"Uh, what's a wristwatch?" Rainbow was the one who vocalized her confusion.

"Not important right now." Nat dismisses before putting the ball into motion, "Anyways, my name is Naturo. Call me Nat for short."

"Fluttershy, nice to meet you." The usually shy pegasus was second with her greeting.

"Howdy, I'm Applejack." The pony tips her stetson hat towards him as she spoke.

"Rarity, pleasure to meet you." The elegant unicorn greets herself.

"And I'm Rainbow Dash!" The rainbow-haired pegasus flies on over to him in no time, "Best flyer you'll ever see!"

Right after she said that, confetti pops out from behind her as the party pony pops up from it. "The name's Pinkie Pie! Your go-to pony for parties!"

Despite being close to him, she fails to notice Nat is a little bit uncomfortable with it. "Uh, personal space please?"

"OK!" And just like that, she disappears by... popping like a balloon?

"Wait, what just-" Nat was cut off as Twilight walks over with words of advice, "Trust me, it's best that you don't question how Pinkie works."

"Uh, OK." Nat just went with it, not wanting to go crazy at something so... odd.

"Anyways, I'm Twilight Sparkle." Twilight introduces herself as Spike glides onto one of the chairs close by.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle, to be exact." He adds, which she was indifferent to, before introducing himself. "And I'm Spike."

"Starlight Glimmer. I just realized I didn't properly introduce myself to either of you." Starlight lets out a nervous chuckle soon after.

"It's all right. Nice to meet you all, I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!" Sonic finishes off the introductions, doing a small pose as he does out of habit with his signature smirk.

The girls gave a friendly smile back at him before Spike flies up to stand on the table, "Now that we got that done, best that we got back to what's going on."

"Right." Sonic agrees with that part before looking at the map, "So, what about these 'cutie marks' you mentioned?"

"Our cutie marks are a symbol in our world that represents a special trait of the pony." Twilight gladly explains to them, "For example, my cutie mark represents my specialty with magic and the element itself."

"Though, what we meant earlier is that our cutie marks can actually help us locate any friendship problem by having them float over the place where it's happening." Rainbow clarifies for the two.

"I'm sorry, what about the 'element of magic'?" Nat repeats, mainly out of curiosity for what it meant.

"It makes up one of the six Elements of Harmony that protect our world from evil." Spike steps in to answer that one before Starlight adds something else, "However, my friend Sunset told me that it is possible for more elements to exist."

"Those sound similar to the emeralds and gems we explained earlier. However, there is a finite number of those in our respective worlds." Sonic pointed out.

"Can you imagine there being more elements that we haven't discovered yet!?" Twilight was more busy getting excited about the prospect Starlight mentioned.

"Best that we focus on one thing at a time, sugarcube." Applejack brought her back on track before she got too off-topic.

"For future reference, what does those emeralds and gems look like?" Rarity wonders to make it easier to find.

Nat pulls out the green gem he has for a visual aid, "The Prism Gems and Sol Emeralds are similar in shape, but differ in size and powers from what I've been told."

Rarity was fascinated by the gem as Pinkie pops in, "Wait, this gem isn't one of the emeralds? Then why is it cut like one?"

"Whoever made them probably didn't think that part through." Nat wasn't really sure on that himself.

"The ones that are emeralds are diamond-cut, so you got me there." Sonic admits as he scratches his head on that.

"Diamond cut, you say..." Rarity thinks on that part before being interrupted by a sudden flash of light.

"If they are, you think that they would be called the Chaos Diamonds instead."

Sonic and Nat were caught off guard by a strange creature that had entered in a flash of light, looking like a hybrid of various animals in one being. While the two were processing this, Starlight spoke up.

"Wait, how did you know what we were talking about?"

"Oh please, you think that you can mention chaos without my knowledge? You should know that by now." The new guest casually mentions before seeing the hedgehogs, "Ah yes, these two must be the new visitors."

He then moves through the air in one smooth motion before stopping in front of them, "I am Discord, the God of Chaos in Equestria. And I am called a draconequus, as your confusion is most likely on what I am."

"...You know, that makes sense." Sonic simply said as Nat was still processing what he's seeing.

"As much sense as the phenomenon you are currently in, which is why I'm here to begin with." Discord clarifies, "It seems that little portal you came in through has caused a ripple effect in other realms as well, however minor it actually was."

"We kinda figured that already." Applejack points out.

"Then did you know that same portal was actually there way before now?" That got their attention, "You obviously know the portal that leads to the parallel world of ours. Whoever created the mirror has unintentionally made a very small interdimensional rift that leads to other realities, which then got bigger and bigger over time."

"Then, each time we went to Canterlot High-" Twilight was getting the picture along with Starlight soon after, "And my time travel plan that lead to multiple timelines being created-"

"ALL of that made the rift worse!?" Rainbow puts the final piece in the puzzle as Discord gives her a small round of applause, "Correct!"

"And my portal spell must have been the breaking point..." Starlight concludes to herself out loud.

Discord then floats over to her rather casually as he spoke, "You would be right there, but..."

"But what?" Nat finally speaks up as he was listening to the conversation.

"The rift stayed the same size. In fact, it seems to have stopped growing entirely."

"Is that good or bad?" Spike wondered.

"You tell me. All I know is the energy it emits just cease to be." Discord answers before floating upwards, "Until the hedgehogs are back in their world, this problem will never be solved." Upon saying that, he disappears in another flash of light.

The Mane Seven, Spike, and the hedgehog duo stood there in a moment of silence to process all that before Sonic spoke up. "Is he usually vague like that?"

"If memory serves, he does that a lot." Rarity recalls the encounters and visits with him to answer that.

"He is really nice when you get to know him." Fluttershy reassures them.

"Getting back to the situation at hoof..." Twilight steps in, "The first thing we should do is find out where the rift is. If the map can't find it, then we'll just have to do it the old-fashioned way."

Pinkie pops up from above her somehow as she speaks, "You mean searching every nook and cranny all around Equestria?"

"Sounds like a great excuse to see the world, if you ask me." Sonic was looking at the bright side of this situation, "We can start small by searching here in Ponyville first."

"Good idea! We can give you a tour!" Pinkie agrees with him there.

"I think I should stay here to try and find more information about our predicament." Twilight brings up.

Starlight and Spike decides to help her out, leaving the others to form the search party.

"Best that we split up to cover more ground. I'll fly up high to get a bird's eye view of the town." Rainbow offers, which was a pretty good idea.

"And I'll lead our guests around town while also keeping an eye out." Pinkie added.

The others were pretty all right with the plan before they headed on out.

* * *

Pinkie does her usual bouncing as the three exit the castle and started down in a random direction as the others went off to start their individual searches.

"So Pinkie, where do you want to start?" Sonic asked.

"Well, I was thinking of showing you the landmarks while we ask around town about any weird stuff." Pinkie casually answers.

"Makes sense, but where are we going?" Nat reiterates for her.

"Oh! I don't know!" Pinkie cheerfully admits, much to their confusion.

"OK, sounds all right to me." Sonic simply went along with it, which Nat agrees with him on.

Looking around at their current surroundings, the three were back in the town square as Pinkie spoke up. "Welcome to the center of town, where ponies from all over walk through on a daily basis as the day flys by!"

"Who's the fountain statue?" Nat points at what he's talking about when the two look at him.

"That pony? Well, Ponyville was actually pretty boring back in the day until a traveling circus troupe did a show here. The town loved it so much that they made a statue of one of the acrobats to commemorate the occasion." Pinkie tells them a brief history lesson in response to his question.

"Really? How nice of them." Nat simply said.

"Yup! Ever since then, the citizens came up with many events to keep that excitement alive." The three turns their heads to the voice that spoke, seeing another pony standing nearby.

The pony wore glasses along with a neat collar that has a green puff on the front and has a cutie mark of a scroll with a blue ribbon.

"Sounds like the town is a landmark for fun." Sonic comments on that before thinking for a moment, "Sorry, I don't think we've met."

"I apologize for the late greeting, I had some last-minute work to take care of. I'm Mayor Mare, the mayor of Ponyville." The pony introduces herself.

"I'm Sonic and this is Nat." Sonic returns the greeting, gesturing to who's who with the latter doing a small wave in response.

Pinkie then pops up in front of the Mayor, "Say, Mayor! Have you seen anything strange going on around town recently?"

"Not really. Even if there was, Princess Twilight would have done something about it already." She had a good point on that.

"This problem deals with more than just the town. If we don't find it, the world can be in danger!" Sonic brings up.

"Doesn't any big threat always do?" The way the mayor casually said it, this situation isn't entirely new.

"Not this time! Now, it involves the fabric of time and space!" Pinkie dramatically emphasizes this with her body language as she said it.

"I thought Discord was reformed." She had another point there.

While Sonic is trying to be patient, they needed to get a move on. "Have you seen a magic portal in town recently?"

The mayor thought for a moment before answering, "No, can't say I have. I'm sure somepony would have noticed it by now, if that's the case."

"THAT... makes a lot of sense, actually." Pinkie agrees with her on that.

"Still, it's best that we double check." Nat doesn't want to take that chance.

"Read my mind. Sorry Pinkie, but mind if we speed up the tour?" Sonic offers.

"Does this mean what I think it means?" Pinkie then hops up towards him, making him catch her in his arms. "High Speed Ride!"

Sonic was a bit amused by this, but went with it anyways as he then turns his head towards Nat, "Think you can keep up?"

"I doubt it, but I can try." Nat admits.

Sonic was ready to go, but spare a second to talk to the mayor. "Nice meeting you, mayor! Your town is a lot of fun!"

"Thank you!" The last words he heard before the two took off, leaving Pinkie's joyful cheers lingering in the wind before turning quiet.

* * *

"Y'all found anything yet?" Applejack had just finished a section of the apple acres as she asks her helpers.

"Nope." Her older brother Big Mac answers after just getting back from his search.

"I thought I saw it, but it was just the sun shining on the lake." Granny Smith wasn't happy to admit that.

"We looked all around the barn and even our clubhouse." Her younger sister Apple Bloom spoke up as her group arrives at the entrance gate, "We didn't find anything."

"You sure this 'portal' might be around here?" Sweetie Belle voices her doubt about that.

Before Applejack gave an answer, the group were starting to hear cheers getting louder and louder.

"What in tarnation is that?" Granny Smith was just as confused as the others.

Turning towards where the sound was coming from, the group saw a cloud of dust coming their way before reaching them in no time flat. Once the dust cleared, it turns out to be Sonic that was the source with Pinkie along for the ride. Nat catches up soon after, stopping in his tracks before catching his breath.

Sonic puts Pinkie down on her hooves, letting her hop around the others with her usual energy. "Hey, Applejack! Any luck with your search?"

"Not yet. What about y'all?" Applejack wondered.

"Nothing strange happening in town." Nat was direct with the answer before seeing the other ponies, "Oh, hello."

"Oh right, y'all haven't met my family yet." Applejack then turns around a bit to introduce them, gesturing to who's who. "Sonic and Nat, meet my big brother Big Mac, my grandma Granny Smith, and my little sister Apple Bloom with her friends Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo."

Big Mac was the tallest stallion of the group, having a red coat with an orange-brown colored mane and tail. His cutie mark is a green apple with a lighter shade for the interior, complete with red seeds.

Granny Smith was the oldest mare, having a light green coat with a grayed mane and tail with the former tied in a bun. Her cutie mark is a simple apple pie.

Apple Bloom was just as tall as her friends, having a yellow coat with a bright red mane and tail that had a pink bow tied neatly on the back of her head.

Sweetie Belle is a unicorn that had a white coat with a curly pink and fuchsia mane, the colors matching the tail in comparison.

Scootaloo is a pegasus that had an orange coat with a dark purple mane and tail.

Interestingly, the three fillies actually share similar cutie marks that have something different on each one. The main design is what looks to be a striped shield with a shade of red, pink, and purple for the vertical stripes. The difference is what is on the shield for each one.

Apple Bloom has an apple similar to her brother's, purple in color with a fuchsia shade for the interior. Sweetie Belle has a purple star with a fuchsia musical note inside, with Scootaloo having a fuchsia-colored wing with a purple outline.

Speaking of the fillies, the trio were curious about what Sonic and Nat were as they got closer for a better look.

"Ah might be wrong on this, but are you two porcupines?" Apple Bloom asked first, which Sonic was not amused at all.

"Nope, we're hedgehogs." Sonic corrected her, "Trust me, I get that a lot."

"Oh, that makes more sense." Sweetie Belle comments.

"Hedgehogs or porcupines, they are REALLY scrawny!" Granny Smith points out, which the others did notice.

The two looks down at themselves, which they can see why they think that. Sonic then forms a smirk on his face before speaking, "Maybe, but looks can be deceiving."

"You may run fast, but I'd like to see you buck some apple trees!" She challenges the two.

"Buck?" Nat repeats, making sure he heard that right.

"Good idea, granny. We can get in some afternoon apple buckin' while we're at it." Applejack agrees on that.

"But, what about the portal?" Nat had a point there as he asks that to Sonic, which he confidently answers in response.

"Don't worry, the others are on the search as well. If it's here, they'll tell us as soon as they can." He reassures his new friend, who was quick to understand.

"Fair enough." Nat then turns towards the others, "So, how do you buck the apples?"

"It's pretty simple." Apple Bloom steps in this time, walking towards one of the nearby trees for an example.

She turns around for her flank to face the trunk of the tree and lifts her back legs, delivering a strong double kick to it that made it heavily shake. The result of this lead to the apples hanging from the tree to then fall into two buckets down below.

"Like so." She said, smiling confidently at her successful demonstration.

"Oh. That actually makes sense." Nat comments, which Sweetie Belle overhears and spoke up.

"What do you mean by that?" She wonders, which he kindly answers. "Well back in my world, we usually pick our fruits from the trees. Our anatomy allows us to be rather nimble in terms of climbing skills in order to reach them."

"Really? That's pretty cool." Scootaloo was listening in and joins in with a small compliment.

"I guess it is. However, since we are in your world, we shall give your bucking trick a shot." Nat points out before walking to another tree.

The one he went to was next to another tree that Sonic was in front of, who attempts his first bucking. It was... well, it moved the tree enough to make the apples fall. However, it's now in a tilted position with about half of the apples on the ground instead of the baskets.

"Oops, a bit too much." Sonic scratches his head as he comments on his performance.

Nat makes a mental note not to hit too hard as he does his attempt, kicking the trunk of the tree with his feet like Sonic did. It was... not quite adequate. He made the tree shake just a bit, which only a couple of apples fell from the branches as the result.

"Hang on, let me try again." Nat figures that he may have missed something.

Taking another go at it, he performs the same technique with more force behind it. It manages to shake the tree a bit more, but it knocks off about the same amount of apples off the tree as the first try.

"At least you didn't knock it out of the ground." Granny Smith makes a comment towards the difference between the two.

"Don't worry, ya'll be gettin' some practice in after all." Applejack assures the hedgehogs.

Soon after she said that, the Apple siblings got to work along with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo pitching in for some extra help. It was a rough start, but the hedgehogs were getting the hang of it as they went along. Nat was getting used to finding the proper way to maximize his performance while Sonic was more focused on holding back his strength a bit. About halfway through, they proved to be fast learners as they were now bucking like it's nobody business.

When Sonic got in the groove, he didn't hesitate on using his speed to zip from tree to tree to... well, speed up the chore. With the trees bucked and the apples plucked, the group carried the the baskets they filled up back to the farm to store them.

After placing the last basket down, Applejack congratulates them on their hard work. "Thanks. Told ya you'll get the hang of it."

"What can I say, I'm quick to catch on." Sonic casually remarks, "Besides, it gives us something else to do around here."

"Also helps to learn how farm labor is handled over here." Nat adds before chuckling a bit, "Or would that be 'hooved' over here?"

The two simply stared at him in response before processing what he meant, "Oh."

Sonic lets out a small chuckle soon after, "Good one."

"Hope you colts are hungry after all that bucking ya'll did!" Granny Smith calls out to them from the entrance of the barn.

"I sure am!" Sonic calls back, getting a little head start over the other two as they went to exit the barn.

What they were greeted with was a delectable smell from a table filled with various foods, most likely made by apples. Upon seeing it, the two zoomed right to the table and took their seats with Applejack following soon after.

"Wow, these look great!" Nat compliments on how the food looks, which isn't wrong in the slightest.

"Well, dig in! It's not gonna eat itself!" Granny Smith had a point there.

With that said, they wasted no more time as the feast commences. Small conversations were taking place during this, mainly questions the Apple family on how Sonic's and Nat's worlds worked. Nat didn't say much that was different from Sonic's side and vice versa, coming to the conclusion that they may be parallel worlds instead. However, one of the questions stood out as Scootaloo notices something a bit strange.

"Hey, Sonic. Do you have a cutie mark?"

The blue blur was rather curious about this, "Nope. Why?"

"Just that, I figured since you have superspeed like Rainbow Dash, it might be represented in some way to show it."

Once again, he hears the rainbow pegasus come up in a conversation. He didn't mind it, already knowing that'll be a recurring thing before speaking.

"Not exactly. In my world, we don't have those. As far back as I can remember, my speed was considered a gift."

"Whoa, cool." Scootaloo was impressed, but was quick on the next question. "What's the fastest you have ever went?"

"Fastest? Let's see..." Sonic took a moment to recall the memory before answering, "Last experiment Tails and I did, I managed to outrun his special flashlights more than once."

"Wait, you mean to say that you're actually faster than light?" She was understandably excited about that being true.

"Well, I don't mean to brag... but yeah." He was a bit surprised at the squeal of joy she had as her response.

"That is crazy! Can I see it!? Please!?"

He couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm as he answers, "Tell you what, I'll gladly show it off when we get the time for a race."

"Really!? Sweet!" Her smile didn't change, even as she continues to eat the various dishes.

On the other hand, Sonic made a mental note to talk to Rainbow later when he gets the chance. Once he did, the rest of the feast went on as the conversations kept it lively.

* * *

Twilight and Starlight was walking through town with Spike leading the way as he was currently discussing the lack of details they had, "I'm still confused as to why the only book about portals we have is rather lacking."

"I think the best guess is there was some sort of incident back then where somepony created this spell to escape to another world, which is why it seems to be unfinished." Twilight theorizes.

"You're saying that the spell was done that way intentionally?" Starlight was finding that hard to believe, "What would be their-"

She cuts herself off as she notices something in the distance, "What's Rarity doing?"

Twilight and Spike follows her line of sight to see what she's seeing, which was Rarity entering her boutique with various fabrics for clothes before closing the door. The three were curious as to why, since the others were supposed to be currently searching for the portal.

"What could be so important fashion-wise?" Twilight wonders as the three did a light jog to the boutique.

Reaching the door, Spike was the first one to reach it and knocks on the door. When no answer came, he knocks on it once again with a bit more force in order for Rarity to hear it, to no avail.

"Must be really focused on whatever she's doing." Starlight comments as she decides to just open the door. which happens to be unlocked.

The three enter to see what was up, looking around to see nopony around in the main room and went to the workroom in the back. It didn't take too long for them to find Rarity working on a rather elegant dress colored in various shades of blue, the center of the masterpiece being a beautiful diamond-cut gem in a deep blue color placed where the chest was like a pendant.

"Oh yes, these shades will make even the night sky jealous." Rarity said to herself before adding in a quieter tone, "Better make sure Princess Luna doesn't hear that..."

Starlight couldn't help but have a grin on her face as she decides to have a little fun. Putting on her best impression of the princess, she shouts out loud in a bellowing voice:

"HARK! WHO DARES TO INSULT THE MOONLIT SKY!"

Rarity immediately dives under the nearest table in fear, "I didn't mean it, Princess Luna! I swear!"

Next thing she knew, she heard laughter coming from somepony else as she looks from under the table to see her friends. Starlight was the one laughing as Twilight and Spike were looking at her like she went crazy.

"Why you- That was NOT funny!" She was clearly not amused by her friend's joke.

Starlight eases up on the laughing before speaking, "Sorry, I couldn't help it." She admits, much to Rarity's dismay as she gets up from under the table.

"Funny? More like scary!" Twilight comments, which Spike agrees with her there.

After that moment has passed, she decides to change the subject to why they were there to begin with. "Anyways, we came here to see what you were doing."

"Yeah. I thought we agreed on looking for the portal in town." Spike adds for clarification.

"Of course I was! I thought it might be in my shop, but then I got distracted by my little project I'm currently on." Rarity uses as an excuse.

"And you bringing in new fabrics?" Starlight recalls what they saw earlier.

"Just some light shopping for clothing later." Rarity quickly answers nervously, making her friends raise an eyebrow in response.

Spike then notices the gem and starts to drool, "Ooo, that looks delicious..."

Rarity realizes what he saw and moves into the path of his vision, "No no no, Spiky! You CANNOT touch it!"

"Oh, come on!" Spike complains, sulking a bit in the process.

Twilight sees the gem and couldn't help but think back at the conversation in her castle earlier, Sonic and Nat mentioning special gems and emeralds that are from their worlds respectively. Wait, that couldn't be...

"If you don't mind me asking, where did you find it?" She questions, having an idea of what the answer might be.

"You know, it's the oddest thing. It was yesterday when I was wandering around the Rock Ridge outside Ponyville for any new gems I could find when I saw this beauty half-buried in the dirt. What made me more curious about it was the fact that my magic wasn't able to detect it at all." Rarity explains to the three, "However, it was the inspiration for the dress you see before your eyes. Gorgeous, is it not?"

"It is." Starlight admits as she looks at the dress itself.

Twilight only spared a glance as she was still focused on the gem, processing the fact that Rarity mentions not being able to detect it with her magic. If that's the case, then it's not an ordinary one like she thinks.

"Didn't Sonic mention the Chaos Emeralds being diamond-cut like that?" Twilight decides to be direct with her thoughts this time.

Rarity took a moment to process what she just said before connecting the dots, "OH! That's what it reminded me of!"

"And despite knowing this, you still put it on a dress?" Starlight points out.

"Oh no, that was started as soon as I saw the emerald." Rarity corrects her there.

"Still, that emerald is very-" Twilight gets cut off as a loud explosion was heard from outside.

The four of them go to look out the nearest window to see what was going on, only to be shocked at the sight. A building was destroyed as its ashes were burning fiercely, smoke floating into the sky as some citizens were at the scene of the crime.

"Come on!" Twilight was the first to speak up, running out the door with the others following close behind.

**And done! Oh noes, tragedy has struck! What has caused it? We shall see... next time!**

**Sorry for the wait, but better late than never. For the readers who has seen my previous two stories with this crossover, I'm not abandoning this one. Best to have another story to break from my main one and I want to see how far I've come from my beginnings.**

**With that said, I'll see you next chapter!**


	4. C3: Friends and Foes

**Hello, fellow readers! Welcome back to the Sonic Chronicles! Last time, the hedgehog duo spend some time getting to know the world they are currently in, thanks to the Mane Seven and Spike. Along with an appearance from Discord, we now have a better idea of the current events. As the two were doing some farm labor with the Apple Family, Twilight's group found out that Rarity has already found a Chaos Emerald. Before they could talk about it further, a sudden explosion caught their attention.**

**What has attacked Ponyville this time? Well, it's time to find out!**

**Chapter 3: Friends and Foes**

Upon reaching the burning building, the ponies were doing what they can to put out the fire. Unfortunately, there were a few ponies injured from the blast and nearby property were caught in the blast radius. Twilight and co. did not hesitate pitching in to help, Spike taking the chance to get info on the situation.

"You know what happened here!?" Spike speaks to one of the witnesses.

"I-I don't know! I was just walking on by when the building just went-" The stallion he asked then makes an exaggerated motion of an explosion with his hooves, complete with a sound effect from his mouth.

"There was a strange sound that sounded like something was flying just before this!" A nearby mare overheard this and joins in with her side of things.

"Really? What was it, exactly?" Spike wonders what she means.

"It was kinda like it was diving down, or more like falling down?" The mare clarifies as best she could, "I'm not sure."

"Like a falling star?" The stallion guesses, only to sound really dumb.

"In the middle of the day?" The mare had a point there.

Before the conversation went any further, there was a bigger commotion as the fire-ponies were able to quell the flames, only to reveal the source of the destruction.

"What is that?" Starlight was the first to ask the question.

The ponies were looking what seems to be a rather big steel ball, confusing them quite a bit before hearing a familiar voice.

"Guys!" Rainbow's voice was heard from above, the speedy pegasus landing on the ground soon after.

"Rainbow! Where did you go?" Rarity questions her, understandably so since she was the bird's eye in the search.

"I WAS searching for the portal, going around town many times over until I decided to rest on a cloud for a bit. Next thing I knew, I get knocked out of the sky and into the forest before I even blinked!" She quickly explains the events prior.

"I'd pay good bits that the steel ball over there was what sent you flying!" Pinkie suddenly pops up from under a nearby rock to join in the conversation.

"Pinkie? I thought you were giving Sonic and Nat the tour." Twilight recalls the plan from earlier as she wonders out loud.

Pinkie hops around the others as she answers, "I was. We showed up at Sweet Apple Acres to check up on Applejack when my Pinkie Sense went wild and came back here to see what's up!" She then pops up in front of where the camera would be before whispering to it, "And totally not because the writer forgot about me in that scene last chapter."

"Uh, OK." Rarity simply said in response.

The group were then distracted by a sudden banging sound... then another... then another...

"Look!"

As it turns out, the noise was coming from the steel ball as it was shaking violently from the inside.

"Get back, everypony!" Twilight calls out as a warning, the other ponies knowing it's best not to stay around at this point.

Spike and the others regroups with her as they stood before the shaking ball. It kept on banging and banging, louder and louder until it was rather hurtful to their ears until... it stops.

Moments pass that turns to seconds, the air feeling heavier as time passes by. The intense staring contest stayed for the longest time until one of them speaks.

"Do-"

_BAM!_

The ball bursts open from the top, allowing what seems to be a giant snake to slither out into the air. The group were quick to dodge its lunging attack, separating them into two groups in the process.

"Talk about a wake-up call!" Starlight randomly pulls out a one-liner, making Pinkie laugh in the process.

"Save the jokes for later!" Rarity had a good point there as the robotic snake slithers around in the sky above.

"We gotta lure it away from town!" Rainbow calls out as she flies up to be the distraction.

"Pinkie, you and Rarity go see that the citizens are safe!" Twilight orders her friend to do, which she salutes at. "Gotcha!"

Once the two head off, Spike finds himself in a little predicament. While he knows that he probably has to go as well, something in the back of his mind wants him to stay and help them out. Before he can decide what to do, he then finds himself float up by a magical aura.

"Sorry, Spiky Wikey! Almost forgot about you!" Rarity pops up to pick him up, carrying him away as he looks on at the battle happening.

Starlight stood next to Twilight as the two were watching Rainbow try to get the robotic snake's attention.

"Who do you think made that?" She asks the princess, who didn't look away as she answers her question.

"No idea. I doubt whatever that is, it didn't come from nature." She then unfurls her wings, "Cover my back."

"Gotcha." Starlight activates an aura around herself to be able to fly as well before going up to join the fight.

* * *

Meanwhile up in the sky above the Rambling Rock Ridge, Rainbow flies straight up as the robotic snake tries to wrap its body around its prey. She proves to be faster as she zooms upwards, immediately diving down towards the head and slams her hooves on impact. Despite the hard hit, the armor barely even dented as the snake pushes her off. Soon after, two magic beams were fired at the side of its head that gets its attention.

Twilight and Starlight regroup with Rainbow, who spoke up on what she found out. "It has some very hard armor!"

"Tough exterior, huh? Then it may have a soft interior!" Starlight throws out a guess in response.

"If that's the case, how are we gonna-" Twilight was cut off as a beam of plasma energy passes right by her.

Looking back at the snake, it has its mouth open with a plasma core where the 'uvula' would be as it was glowing with energy. Once charged up, more beams were fired at the three that they had to resort to evasive maneuvers. Starlight was quick to retaliate as she fires a beam right at the core, making the snake shake around violently in response.

"Found it!" She cheers with a cheeky smirk on her face.

Upon cheering, she didn't expect the snake to suddenly activate two spinning saws on the sides of its face.

"Well, that's new." Rainbow comments on the inclusion.

The snake didn't need to move as the saws fired like frisbees towards the three. Twilight reflexively puts up a barrier to block them, but the saws were relentless as they grind against the barrier. Rainbow saw this as an opportunity to go flying up higher above the surrounding clouds, the proper distance for her signature skill. Starlight sees what she was doing and enhances Twilight's barrier to stall the saws longer.

Rainbow had a smirk on her face as she dives straight down, easily breaking the wind barrier as a mach cone starts to form around her. Flapping her wings to the max, her aim was going straight at where the head and the body were connected, intending to bring the snake down to the ground.

However, the snake was able to catch on as its eyes changes targets from the other two to the stray pegasus. Turning towards her, it opens its mouth to charge a much bigger plasma laser aiming right at her. This caught her off guard a bit, but steeled herself for the impact as the weak point was also exposed. If she can beat it before it fires, she'll be able to knock it right out of the sky.

Twilight and Starlight realizes what was happening through the rippling effect the barrier had from the saws, the former losing her focus as she calls out to her friend.

"RAINBOW!"

Time slowed down almost entirely as her barrier falls. The saws flew towards them as Rainbow was flying straight at the snake, its mouth glowing upon reaching full capacity. Twilight realizes what she had done a little too late, seeing the saw coming towards her in her peripheral vision. All she heard right then and there... was a simple sound.

_BOOM!_

* * *

_Minutes earlier, back at Sweet Apple Acres_

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were currently taking a small shortcut to Ponyville as they lead Sonic and Nat along the way. Main reason why this was happening can be answered by the rising smoke in the sky where the town is, making the heroes jump into action. They were gonna use the main road, but the CMCs knew of a small path from their clubhouse that is faster to take.

Upon reaching their destination, they saw that the citizens were frozen in shock or concerned about what was going on. Looking around, the group saw Mayor Mare as she and another pony was trying to escort the others to safety. The second pony was helping by organizing the others into groups before telling them where to take shelter. Said pony was a pale magenta unicorn with a violet mane and tail that has light purple highlights, finishing her look with a trio of diamonds as her cutie mark.

"Mayor! What's happening!?" Sweetie Belle calls out to get her attention as they go to her.

"I'm not sure! Whatever it is, we're just preparing for whatever will happen next." The mayor answers with, still a bit shaken from the sudden event.

"Good idea. Last thing we need is others getting caught in the crossfire." Sonic agrees with that decision.

The second pony then comes over with a panicked expression, "Mayor! We're still missing a few citizens when everyone was running in a panic!"

"We'll help you find them!" Apple Bloom spoke up here, wanting to do just that.

"Really? I want to go see what's attacking this time!" Scootaloo was expecting to see the action.

"Sorry, girls! Best to leave this to the professionals!" Sonic warns them before turning to Nat, only to be confused by what he sees.

Nat just stares at the fire that was making the dark smoke, his face being stoic with his eyes being the opposite. Sonic can tell what he was feeling, but knew they don't have the time to waste.

"Nat, mind staying and helping the others?" His friend broke out of his state and looks at Sonic for a moment before processing what he said.

"Stay? Yeah, I'll watch over them." His tone was shaken a bit, but it didn't stop his answer.

Sonic nods and turns back to the mayor, "Miss Mayor and..." He stops, not knowing the other pony's name.

"Amethyst Star, nice to meet you." The second pony briefly introduces herself, "You must be Sonic and Nat, correct?"

"Yeah. I'll leave these guys in your care!" Sonic said quickly before running off towards the danger.

He sprints off in a full run as he zooms past the town square and reaches the scene of the crime in no time. He stops and observes what was here, seeing a giant steel ball that had crushed a building upon its landing and seemed to have released something from the inside. The place was empty, which was good since it meant that the citizens are out of the danger zone.

He then felt something familiar and looks around to find the source, zooming through the surroundings until entering what seems to be a boutique for clothing. Here was where the feeling was strong, his eyes lighting up upon seeing-

"A Chaos Emerald!?" He was understandably surprised when the blue emerald was placed onto a rather beautiful dress that matched it very well.

His battle reflexes soon kicked in, ducking under a sudden energy laser that went through the wall and lands in the floor behind him. Took him a moment to fully process what happened, he goes over to a window that was towards where it came from and sees a rather peculiar sight in the sky past the Everfree Forest. He sees three flying ponies, most likely pegasi, dealing with a... giant flying snake?

"No, he's here too?" He clenches his fists, recognizing the flying snake from his last encounter from long ago. Or rather, the flying viper.

His mind then remembers the Chaos Emerald and made up his mind, "Sorry, miss! Gotta borrow this!"

Snatching the emerald right off the dress, he runs full speed out the door and through the forest to the current battle in the sky.

* * *

Sonic knew that he needs to get to higher ground and decides to take a sharp turn towards the nearby mountains, scaling the steep cliffside in record time to the top. Running up towards the peak, he has a better view of the battle.

The three ponies that were fighting it was Twilight, Starlight and Rainbow as they flew around the robot for an opening. As for the flying viper, he sees the similarities to the one he faced before, but doesn't doubt that the robot was indeed a new model of the Egg Viper. Complete with the main unit resembling a viper's head this time, it had an actual body instead of segments that was complete with a razor sharp tail at the end.

It then shoots out two spinning saws from its head towards the three, which Twilight creates a barrier to block them to protect themselves. He quickly turns to his current path, going right up to the very peak before stopping that has a view of the battle from behind the three. He then sees Rainbow fly off, which confuses him a bit.

"Where is she going?" He wonders as she reaches a much higher position in the sky.

He briefly looks back at the other two, who are still fending off the saws to most likely distract the viper as Rainbow flanks it. Speaking of whom, the speedy pegasus then dives right down at their opponent with incredible speed, creating what Sonic recognizes as a mach cone around her body. He'll admit, she has the right idea on how to deal with the robots in physical combat.

Looking back at the others, his eyes widen as the viper was now facing the pegasus with its mouth open to charge an attack. His body reacted faster than his mind, his feet moving in a stationary position while forming a Figure-Eight to build up speed for his 'boost mode'. However, he then sees the barrier fade as Twilight got distracted. Feeling the Chaos Emerald in his hand, he held it tight right as he blasts off the peak towards them.

"Chaos Control!" He yells out, the familiar sound echoing as it was successful.

Time slows to a crawl as his sonic boost made him practically fly at the moment, moving right up until he reaches in between Starlight and Twilight. Curling up into a ball, he performs a swift homing attack chain to knock the saws off course, leaping off the second one towards the viper. Seeing what was gonna transpire, he was smart to use the emerald as Rainbow was diving straight into an energy beam, also seeing why she was as he recognizes a familiar core unit for the viper's 'uvula' that was also the weak point.

Now having the full picture, he lands on the lower jaw and grabs Rainbow to then leap out the other side before time resumes to normal, successfully avoiding the beam as it launches out into space. A sonic boom briefly passes the two soon after, returning sound as well as the blue blur hears Rainbow's voice.

"What the!? What happened!?" Her confusion made sense, Sonic answering to clear it up.

"Just pulled off a last-second rescue! You're welcome!" His tone wasn't condescending at all, despite the words spoken.

"Not that I ain't grateful, but I could have made that shot!" She confidently brags about.

"I wouldn't be surprised, but that wasn't a risk I'd take!" He admits, "Anyways, feel like flying again?"

Rainbow then realizes that the two are high in the sky and are falling towards the ground, "Yeah, I'll return the favor and give you a lift!"

"All right!" Sonic accepts her offer, letting her go in the process.

She quickly spreads her wings and gains some altitude before going under him, letting him ride on her back for now as the two headed back towards the fight.

Twilight and Starlight had finished processing the sudden changes and tries to go on the offensive this time, baiting out the viper for the chance to hit the opening. The latter decided to use the decoy spell to help assist Twilight in battle for now as her real self observes, trying to come up with a solid strategy to defeat it as Rainbow comes flying in with Sonic in tow.

"Rainbow, you're all right!" Starlight was relieved to see her all right.

"Yep, and still ready to fight!" Rainbow reassures her.

"Hope I didn't miss the fun!" Sonic chimes in, which Starlight just notices him after seeing Rainbow.

"Nope, just in time actually! By chance, is whatever this is from your world?" She wonders, which he didn't hesitate answering.

"Most likely, yes. Let's just say I have a nemesis back home that uses technology for world conquest. This was one of his old creations, but I guess he decided to recycle ideas." He briefly explains, much to the other two's surprise.

"And this didn't come up because...?" Rainbow questions the lack of info there.

"I kinda hoped that it was just me from my world here, but it turns out to not be the case." Sonic looks right at the new Egg Viper as he spoke.

Speaking of which, the viper lunges at the two current fighters with its mouth open for a vicious bite as it tries chomping down on them. The two were quick as they perform a teleport spell that has them reappear where the others are. Twilight and Starlight's Decoy notices Sonic and Rainbow, the former coming in for a hug while speaking pretty fast in the process.

"Rainbow, thank Celestia you're all right! I just realized how much danger you were in and forgot the current danger me and Starlight were in-"

"That's great to hear! I'd hug back if I wasn't carrying a hedgehog on my back right now!" Rainbow points out as Sonic was holding on as best he could.

Twilight ends the hug and backs up a bit with a nervous smile, "Sorry about that."

Sonic regains his footing as Rainbow shrugs it off, "You're fine. However, best that we save the conversations for later!"

"Good, cause its's coming in!" Sonic warns them by gesturing to where the robotic viper is, the group barely avoiding its tail swipe by flying further away from it.

"The core is in the mouth, but I doubt it wants a dental checkup!" Starlight informs him on, making him smirk at her little joke as her decoy disappears.

"Whether it likes it or not, that cavity is coming out!" Sonic went along with it, "Time for some good old-fashioned teamwork!"

The mares agreed with him as the four went on the offensive, flying around the Egg Viper as it then reveals more buzzsaws alongside its long body. All of them then fired all at once, making the group split up in the process as the saws flew off in random directions.

Sonic and Rainbow took the top route to try and bait out the bite attack, even looping around the head before diving downwards to lure it. The Viper activates its thrusters to go after them, opening its mouth once again to charge a laser.

Twilight and Starlight then comes in from behind to perform a joint spell, holding the mouth wide open for the other two as Sonic turns to see what's up.

"Dash, U-turn!" Rainbow nods and does just that, now flying right towards the viper at full speed.

The laser was still charging up as a mach cone forms around the tag team, Sonic using his leftover 'boost energy' from earlier to increase their chances. The two dives right at the core as the laser fully charges up-

_SLAM!_

Only for it to come up short as the two slam themselves right into the open mouth, stunning it considerably as they bounce out and recover from the collision. The Viper fell right out of the sky towards the ground, the thrusters reactivating themselves right before hitting the dirt to stop itself.

"Nice shot!" Twilight compliments the two upon regrouping with them.

"It's not over yet!" Rainbow held her guard up, her eyes still on the Viper down below.

Speaking of which, the Viper then lets out a mechanical roar that echoes throughout the area, activating something on the flying saws that were still in the sky before they started to dart right after them one by one. Twilight and Starlight were on guard this time as the four went into evasive maneuvers once again.

Twilight flew around the ones she can dodge, only resorting to teleporting for the ones flying too close. Starlight did similar tricks, teleporting and even blasting ones off course to throw off the formation.

Rainbow had no problem flying, just with the added difficulty of a passenger to watch out for. Sonic stayed on her back as best he could while trying to figure out what attack pattern the Egg Viper was doing. Looking around his surroundings, he then notices one flying right at them from behind diagonally.

"Dive!" He warns her as the saw was coming too close for comfort.

The two do just that, going down for a moment before attempting to regain altitude. Their eyes widen as another saw was flying straight at them, forcing them to separate to avoid getting hit. Sonic leaps up high as Rainbow furled her wings to dive again, the former actually landing on top of the saw like it was a platform.

Finding himself in quite the situation as he tries to get stable footing on the spinning blade, only to then get shook as another saw hit his and making them bounce away. Looking down at the reflective surface, he sees another saw coming down upon him from above and immediately jumps off to avoid it. The flying saws were now quite relentless as Sonic leaps from saw to saw, performing all kinds of acrobatics while dodging very close calls until finding himself just freefalling in the sky.

Hearing multiple saws actually homing in on him now, he pulls out the Chaos Emerald and activates its power again.

"Chaos Control!"

Time was slowed down to a crawl again as he observes his surroundings, seeing his partners still fending off their own groups of saws in the distance while he had about six homing in on his position. Curling himself into a ball, he then spins faster and faster as he gathers light energy, readying a light speed dash up to full capacity before blasting off. Using the saws as platforms like earlier, he was basically a bouncing ball in a pinball machine, gaining momentum without stopping as he then launches off towards the others.

From the others' perspective, the saws were just blown off entirely from themselves like there was a powerful gust of wind. High above them, Sonic reappears from the time-space void and back to freefalling again, whistling to get their attention. Rainbow was on the move in an instant, flying right up towards him for the catch after noticing three saws coming in a pincer formation. Just as Sonic notices, she snatches him right before the saws slam against each other and grinding a bit to then break away.

"Now we're even!" Sonic comments as he secures himself on her back, making Rainbow chuckle a bit in response.

"Not for long if we don't wrap this now!" She was right as the Egg Viper still down below, along with the saws forming what looks to be a large tunnel that ends at where it was down below, spinning rapidly to prevent its prey from escaping.

It then opens its mouth once again and immediately fires a laser at one of the saws' surfaces, bouncing off it like it hit a mirror repeatedly up towards the four.

"So that's what it was doing! The sneaky snake!" Starlight was annoyed at this as the laser passes by them.

"Must be on its last tail, then! One last challenge to take us down!" Sonic summarizes what it might be the case.

"Then challenge accepted!" Rainbow was ready to go, only to be stopped by Twilight.

"Wait! We need to combine our strength this time! Stay together!" She suggests, which the others agreed to.

Rainbow stays in the middle as Starlight and Twilight went to her left and right side respectively, the Viper charging up and firing another blast that then spreads into multiple lasers. As soon as they started bouncing off the reflective saws, the two spellcasters conjures up a joint barrier to protect themselves from the attack before following Rainbow who flew straight at their robotic opponent.

The barrier starts to form a mach cone around itself, Rainbow going faster and faster with Sonic adding any more 'boost energy' he can spare at this point to increase their speed. The Viper charges up a much stronger blast for a final attack, the ponies now forming a delta formation to perform Rainbow's signature skill.

Unknowingly, Sonic's bracelet starts to glows as the Viper unleashes its beam straight at the barrier before it shines brightly. The green energy enhances the barrier further right as the Sonic Rainboom went off!

_BOOM!_

The four flew like a colorful rocket towards their target through the laser beam, hitting and going straight through the Viper's head that destroyed the core in the process. Sonic looks behind him with a victorious smile, seeing the results of their teamwork.

A rainbow trail shows their previous path from the Sonic Rainboom in the sky, going right through the robot as its remains fell apart. The sight was rather beautiful, in his honest opinion as they zoom onwards.

The four tried their best to slow down to a halt, landing on the ground with a bit of skiing across the dirt to stop completely. Once they did, Sonic hops off Rainbow's back and stretches his legs.

"Woo! Glad to be back down to earth!" He admits, "Though the flight was pretty exciting."

"Exciting? That. Was. AWESOME!" Rainbow cheers, smiling widely as she leaps up in the air with a backflip to boot.

"It was, yes." Starlight agrees as she turns towards the wreckage, the now deactivated saws falling from the sky as she stares on.

"Now that we dealt with the threat, do you mind telling us what was THAT about?" Twilight had a good point there.

Sonic lets out a sigh in response, "Sure thing. Though, it's best that we check up on the town first."

"Got it covered." Next thing the three knew, Starlight uses a teleport spell to transport them straight back to town.

Though just as quick as she casts it, she reappears next to the wreckage with a curious expression on her face. The technology was quite advanced for what she has seen in Equestria, so it would be a waste to not take a souvenir or two... or more.

"If that nemesis of his uses this for his creations, perhaps it would be beneficial to study what we can from these." Starlight mutters to herself.

* * *

_Meanwhile, in an unknown location_

A scientist was sitting in his chair as he watches the screen in front of him, looking at the current status of his 'Egg Viper Mk.2' for its little 'test run'. The goal: finding the Chaos Emerald detected there.

However, his expression changes from neutral to annoyance as the status went from 'active' to 'destroyed'.

"But how!? I made sure that the armor can take those energy blasts without breaking apart so easily!" The scientist vents out his frustration, "The 'magic' in this world is quite the force to use. If I can find a way to harness it..."

His little ramble was interrupted as the sliding door to the room opens, revealing another scientist who looks similar to him in appearance. Entering inside, the second scientist then spoke up.

"Well, another one of your robots has failed... again." He gloats, making the first scientist angrier in the process.

"Maybe, but I doubt you did any better with your job!" Scientist One shot back, "Didn't your robot fail as well?"

"That is none of your concern..." Scientist Two avoids the question before following it up, "Only the result matters, which is what I have."

Scientist Two moves his right hand from behind his back to reveal something that Scientist One recognizes from their previous endeavor.

"A Sol Emerald!?" His surprise was evident on his face as Scientist Two smirks, holding the yellow Sol Emerald in his hand as he tells his partner what he thinks. "Indeed. As you remember, these are the parallel counterparts to the Chaos Emeralds you seek. However, if both sets are here, then why isn't the world collapsing at the moment?"

Scientist One took a moment to think as he paces the room, stopping soon after with an answer. "Unless something in this world can rival their powers, but can also cancel them out too."

"And perhaps that is the source of this 'magic' this dimension lives on." Scientist Two adds in while stroking his stylish mustache with his free hand, "Their own set of artifacts with that much power makes them quite the collection to have."

"Of course! Put the emerald hunt on hold for now, we're gonna find out everything this world has to offer." Scientist One smiles, his equally stellar mustache making its own 'smile' as well.

**And done! Wow, that wasn't a long wait at all. Guess I got a bit more motivation this time around.**

**After the little cliffhanger, I wanted to jump back into some action. For clarification, I decided to use an oldie for a nice tutorial boss.**

**In terms of gameplay, think of it similar to Sora on the flying carpet in KH2. You still have access to ground and aerial combat, just replace the carpet with Rainbow Dash who can jump in for various tag team attacks during combos.**

**Another thing the bosses will do in this series, NO repeat patterns. Each time you damage it by normal means or hitting the weak spot and reaching a certain point, the boss will change tactics or throw in a new trick to catch you off guard. Higher levels will add in more moves for it to keep the experience fresh. The stats will also adjust accordingly, making the CPU harder to fight in terms of mainly tactical skill rather than being just defensive sponges.**

**So, who had the honor of being the first boss?**

**The Egg Viper Mk.2: An upgraded prototype of the previous model, now more streamlined and comes with an A.I. for the 'pilot'. Resembling more like its namesake, this machine can fire pure plasma energy and has a large array of buzzsaws to use remotely to attack and even trap its prey.**

**Basic Moveset: Laser Barrage, Plasma Blast, Spinning Saws, Vicious Bite, Wrap**

**Through outmaneuvering it, teamwork, and a bit of luck, the four managed to win in the end.**

**Back to the story, looks like Sonic isn't the only one from his own world that has arrived in Equestria. As for how... sorry, spoilers. With those answers comes more questions to ask and then answer.**

**With that said, I'll see you guys next chapter!**


	5. C4: The Sun and Moon

**Hello, fellow readers! Welcome back to the Sonic Chronicles! Last time, Ponyville was attacked by a familiar enemy that Sonic knows all too well who it belongs to. After a hard fight, the heroes return back to Ponyville with Starlight taking a little detour for beneficial reasons in the future. Though, there may be something sinister behind the scenes.**

**The story continues here, so let's jump right in!**

**Chapter 4: The Sun and Moon**

"Princesses! We found two unknown entities in the castle garden!" One of the Royal Guards told the two before escorting them to the destination.

The two princesses he referred to was known as Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, ruling over the land of Equestria as equals.

The first is known as the Princess of the Sun, a tall alicorn with a white coat and a small rainbow for her hair, both the mane and tail as a matching pair. Completing her appearance and her title, a bright sun was shown as her cutie mark.

The second is known as the Princess of the Moon, a shorter alicorn with a dark azure coat and her matching hair and tail resembling a night sky. Completing her appearance and her title, a crescent moon against a black sky was shown as her cutie mark.

Exiting the castle, the three enter the gardens to see a squad of the Royal Guard surrounding two strange creatures who seem to be rather confused and on guard at the same time. The princesses were quite curious as to who they were, Celestia speaking up to get their attention as they came closer to talk.

"No need to start a fight. We don't seek for hostility." She told the visitors in an attempt for peaceful conversation.

Upon closer analysis, it seems that the duo were a cat and a hedgehog respectively.

The cat gives an appearance of royalty, attire that seems to have been made for such and her mannerisms reflecting that as she looks at the two with a sense of discipline.

The hedgehog was harder to pinpoint. His appearance was rather interesting for what he wore can be seen as rather advanced, but the hedgehog himself gives off a feeling of naivety too as he turns his attention to the conversation.

"Are you two rulers of this dimension, by chance?" The royal cat asks the two alicorns.

"Why yes, we watch over the land of Equestria." Celestia gladly answers, "I am Princess Celestia."

"And I, Princess Luna." Luna adds, "What names shall we refer to you two?"

"My name is Blaze, Princess of the Sol Dimension." The royal cat introduces herself before gesturing to the hedgehog, "This is my friend, Silver."

"Hi, how are ya?" He was rather casual with his greeting.

The escort guard lowers his voice as he asks a question, "What should we do, Princess?"

"We welcome them, of course. They seem to have come from far away, would be best to make a good first impression." Celestia answers back.

"Are you sure? I doubt that-" The guard was cut short as a stern glance from Celestia stops him.

"Flash, I know what you are thinking. However, it would be best to try making allies instead of enemies when the chance arises. Do your best to remember that."

The guard known as Flash simply nods in response, "Yes, princess."

After that small exchange, the sisters proceed to bring the visitors into the castle. The latter pair was rather impressed by the interior design of said castle as they walk through the halls before entering the throne room. The guard squad simply waited outside as Flash follows them inside, standing next to the doors as they closed.

Blaze and Silver were understandably fixated on the stained glass murals on display, showcasing important events in the recent years of Equestria. Their thoughts were then interrupted by one of the princesses speaking up.

"What brings you to our world, Princess Blaze?" Celestia starts their discussion with the obvious question.

"It may sound rather strange, but I meant it when I said we are from another dimension." Blaze starts to explain, "We came here to look for our archenemy through a portal device he used in his lair."

"He's named Eggman Nega, a rather despicable human being." Silver chimes in, "He's known for causing destruction wherever he appears."

"Would there be a reason as to why he would come to Equestria?" Luna questions, "I doubt he would arrive here by accident."

"Accident or not, he could be hiding here as we speak." Blaze answers, not exactly sure herself. "Not long before we came here, the Sol Emeralds disappeared from their safe place. They are important artifacts from our dimension that cannot fall into the wrong hands."

"We also have various artifacts of great power here. In that case, all this may not be a coincidence." Celestia pieces together from what they have heard.

Silver took a couple of steps forward before speaking, "I know we are only visitors here, but the last thing we want is any battle of ours to involve other innocent people... or ponies. We need to work together to prevent any calamity that he is planning this time to save both our worlds."

He clenches his fists before giving the two sisters a serious look, "Please, we don't want anymore bad futures..."

Princess Celestia and Luna can see in his eyes that his words have weight. Only a moment passes until answering him as the former spoke, "We will."

The two were visibly thankful for their alliance, "Thank you very much!" Silver is quite happy about this.

"First things first, we better learn about this world as much as we can." Blaze reminds him.

"The royal library would be a good place to start. Flash will escort you two there." Celestia offers, gesturing to the guard that stood near the doors.

Blaze and Silver turn to where she pointed at, seeing the guard do a small wave back as their answer. Once the three has exit the throne room, the two sisters had a small talk with each other.

"That hedgehog spoke from the heart with his words. Makes me wonder about what he has experienced." Luna admits.

"Very true. How they described their archenemy throughout, Twilight and her friends need to be at their best." Celestia agrees with her there.

"Would it be wise to have them deal with this threat so soon?" Luna warns her sister, "We're still recovering from what that Cozy Glow has done."

"I can't take the chance of them getting caught off guard if it turns into something much bigger." Celestia reassures her before having a scroll and quill appear in her magical grasp.

"Very well. I will go and inform our guards of this." Luna told her before taking her leave as well.

Celestia didn't take long to write the letter, making sure to keep it brief for Twilight to read and respond back as soon as she could. She reread it to make sure no detail was left out:

_Dear Twilight,_

_I have very important news that you need to know. Recently, we had two visitors come to Canterlot that are actually from another world beyond our own. One is Princess Blaze who is ruler of her world called the Sol Dimension, and the other is her friend known as Silver. The two has informed us that their archenemy, called Eggman Nega, has invaded Equestria with a scheme of malicious intentions._

_Whatever this may bring, I hope that you and your friends prepare for the worst as you always do._

_From, Princess Celestia_

And with that written, the princess rolls it up before teleporting it to her student and being on her way to see what she can find out about their new foe.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at Ponyville

"Did you really had to RIP OFF the emerald from my dress!?" Rarity was understandably frustrated at this after Sonic has told the others about what has happened.

Currently, the town are working to fix the damages caused by the Egg Viper the four had defeated earlier. Sonic and Nat gladly lent a hand in helping out, with the former helping with the restructuring after proving his physical strength is more than just appearance, and the latter helping with the injured ponies caught in the crossfire.

During this time, Sonic told the rest of the Mane Six what went down during the battle with Rainbow and Starlight adding in the events before he showed up. Once they told their story, Rarity was just focused mainly on the dress part.

"I told you, I needed it. Plus, they shouldn't be used for decor anyways." Sonic repeated himself for the third time as he places an extra wood pillar in the pile, "Trust me, a friend of mine would agree with that."

"You mean Tails is into clothes?" Rarity would understandably guess his best buddy, but no dice.

"Nope, I mean another friend of mine named Knuckles. He's the guardian of the main one, the Master Emerald, but trusted us with the Chaos Emeralds whenever we needed them. Though, I wonder if he knows that they are in this world." Sonic wonders out loud near the end.

However, Rarity was fixated on this 'Master Emerald' he mentioned. "Is that a grand gem of sorts?"

"Yup. Much bigger for one thing, as well as being the source of Chaos energy for the emeralds." Sonic casually answers, only to see Rarity with glowing eyes as she daydreams the possibility of seeing it.

"Master Emerald, I must have you..." She was quite determined with that statement, making him laugh a bit in the process.

"Good luck, not even Egghead can keep it from him." He recalls the last time the Doctor tried taking it, only to have his thoughts interrupted by a familiar voice from above.

"Sonic!"

He was visibly surprised upon looking up to see his two friends flying downwards from the sky, even with the Master Emerald in tow, before landing nearby.

"Tails!? Knuckles!? When did you come over!?"

The former lets out a nervous chuckle as he was rubbing the back of his head, "Well, it was kinda unintentional..."

* * *

Earlier...

"Let me get this straight. Sonic's in another world?"

Knuckles questions this as he and Tails were currently at the Emerald Shrine, the latter informing him on the situation. "Yeah, he's in Equestria. And yes, it is what it means."

"A world... of horses?" Knuckles was still processing the whole 'another world' part while saying that.

"Ponies, to be more accurate." Tails corrected the red echidna before continuing, "Anyways, I was working on a portal device to reach him before I remembered something. When Dark Gaia was awakened a while ago, he needed the Chaos Emeralds to defeat it. If he still has them-"

"Then the Master Emerald would be able to find him through their energy." That was something Knuckles understood, finishing his friend's thought for him.

"Exactly! If that's the case, we can use my prototype portal machine to get to that world." Tails then pulls out said device from his brown backpack to prove his point.

"Wait, we!? I can't leave the Master Emerald alone just like that!" Knuckles was understandably against that idea, but Tails reassures him on what he means.

"Don't worry, this is just a test to see if it works. World traversing isn't that easy." He then flies up to above the Master Emerald to attach the device, "OK, give me just a second."

Knuckles wasn't really sure on what he was doing, but goes along with it. "It better not damage it, all right?"

"Scratch free, guaranteed!" Tails made sure that the wires have suction cups at the ends beforehand to avoid such damages.

Once the device was properly set up, he then gives the signal to Knuckles to activate the emerald. The red echidna then starts talking to it, "Oh Master Emerald, please find the Chaos Emeralds to help us find our friend Sonic."

A simple request is all it takes for the emerald to then form a clear picture within itself, showing various locations unfamiliar to the two that most likely held each individual emerald before reaching the blue hedgehog they knew.

"Got it!" Knuckles exclaimed, Tails pressing the activation button just as he spoke.

The device then starts up and fires a ball of energy to form a portal a few feet away from the two, showing the location from high up in the sky. Not even five seconds had passed before something went wrong. The device couldn't take much of the limitless energy the Master Emerald has, causing it to go haywire and makes the portal have more density to the point of gaining a gravitational pull.

"Why didn't I see this coming!?" Tails would facepalm if he wasn't trying to fly away from the suction.

Unfortunately, the two couldn't hold their ground for long before getting sucked in, Master Emerald included. The portal closes soon after, leaving the shrine empty and Angel Island falls into the ocean below once again.

* * *

Present time

"You're right, that was pretty reckless." Sonic sums up what he was told, which only made Tails feel more embarrassed in the process.

Their attention was then diverted to see Knuckles getting harassed by Rarity who was rather fixated at the idea of seeing the Master Emerald, which Sonic had told her about earlier.

"No you unicorn, you're not touching the Master Emerald!" He denies her request, much to her disappointment.

"Oh nonono, I just want to look at it. I am quite the expert on various gems and-" She tries to convince him otherwise, only to get interrupted by another voice off in the distance closing in.

"Yo, what's going on!?" Nat comes jogging over, curiosity taking hold as he sees Tails and Knuckles. "Oh, we have some new faces?"

"Yup. Though, it's best that we wait until everything is fixed up. Mind giving us a hand, guys?" Sonic had a good point there.

With the two agreeing to help out, the repairs sped up quite considerably as the others were briefly introduced to the two newcomers in the process. Once the buildings were fixed and the injured were put into proper care, the group return to Twilight's castle and tries to get a full picture on the current situation.

"The Chaos Emeralds are in different locations around this world along with these gems that are from a parallel world, which is most likely the reason why Equestria remains the same despite the increase in power waves." Tails briefly explains the different types of energies that are in play.

"I can feel the emeralds no problem, but not the gems Nat mentioned." Knuckles chimes in as he turns to the green hedgehog, "Are they using a different energy source?"

"That's right. While your world uses this 'Chaos energy', ours uses potent magical energy that the gems were made with." Nat answers the echidna before pulling out the green gem, "They also have different powers, such as this one using the wind."

"I actually just thought of something." Twilight chimes in, "If the Cutie Map is able to use ours to pinpoint a problem, maybe it's possible that it can detect various energies through a different source of power. Of course, that's just a theory."

"No, I think you're onto something." Starlight sees where she was going with this, "Nat, you mind if I see that gem for a second?"

Nat simply holds it out to her, which she picks up with her magic aura, and places it in the center of the map.

"OK, let's see if a projection spell will work..." Her magic aura glows a bit brighter to activate said spell as the others watch to see the result.

Much to their surprise, the map reacted to the gem to then show similar glows around the land, most likely revealing their locations.

"Well, that makes it easier." Knuckles admits, "Which actually does when you're finding treasure."

"Wait, are you implying that you struggled, Knux?" Tails teases the red echidna.

"No, it's just some advice I remembered!" Knuckles snaps back.

While the group was talking in the map room, they were unsuspecting of three other fillies behind the double doors that were opened just a crack.

"Magical gems from another world? That sounds so cool!" Scootaloo admits while keeping her voice down.

"Wait, does that mean that more of those portals are around Equestria?" Sweetie Belle wonders.

"Ah say it's worth exploring to find out." Apple Bloom simply said as her answer.

"Exploring what?" The three turn to the voice talking to them, who happens to be Spike as he had the door open a bit more.

The three look at each other for a brief moment before grabbing Spike, pulling him into the hallway and quietly closes the door soon after.

"Ah know what it looks like, but can you please not tell our sisters about it?" Apple Bloom starts off with.

"Don't tell me, you three want to come along?" Spike immediately got where she was going with this.

"Obviously! Especially with Sonic and his friends who are from another dimension, we would be silly not to take this chance!" Scootaloo couldn't contain her excitement at this scenario.

"Wait, wouldn't that also mean that his enemies would be over here too?" Sweetie Belle brings up a very good question.

"Every turn has its dangers."

The three were surprised at the sudden appearance of Sonic behind them, who seems to have been standing there for a longer than a second.

"Though knowing me and what has happened earlier, that's guaranteed at this point." He casually adds.

"Wait, did you know we were out here?" Scootaloo questions that part.

"No, I just happened to leave to use the bathroom." Sonic sarcastically responds with before being serious, "I noticed that Spike went missing and came to find him."

Spike was a little touched by that before getting a familiar feeling in his stomach, "Oh, here it-"

He then lets out a burp, releasing a puff of green fire before it forms into a scroll of paper in the air. Sonic swiftly snatches it before the others could blink and examines it.

"Whoa, that's a neat trick you can do." He compliments the small dragon.

"Thanks. I only do that when Twilight gets a message from Princess Celestia-" Spike explains before realizing that Sonic already unrolled the scroll, "Uh, do you usually read other ponies' mail?"

"Huh? Oh, I usually do it for Tails when he's busy on his projects." The blue blur then scratches the side of his head for a sec, "Habit, sorry."

"Well, the message is most likely for Twilight anyways so-"

"No way!" Sonic unintentionally cuts him off as he was reading the scroll, "Blaze and Silver are here too?"

"More of your friends? This is getting kinda crowded, don't ya think?" Apple Bloom questions the coincidental part of this.

"No way!" Scootaloo counters with, "The more the merrier, right?"

"No, Apple Bloom is right." Sonic steps in with his serious tone again, "If more of my friends are showing up, it just makes it more obvious on how torn the whole space-time thing is. I understand the excitement, but best to keep your priorities straight."

Scootaloo may have had her mood go down a bit, but remains optimistic as she does get what he means. "Right, got it."

"Good." Sonic then realizes something important, "Oh right, Twilight should read this."

He then zooms right back with Spike staying for a moment longer, "I know you three want to come, but you do realize that the others won't allow that?"

"What? Who said we were sneak away... again?" Sweetie Belle denies, despite the three having the thought already. "We're just curious about what the new adventure for them might be."

"Well, considering the situation, the last thing they need is more complications." With that said, Spike then heads back to the map room, leaving the CMCs to ponder.

Spike does have a point, the last thing they want is to make the situation worse due to similar previous experiences. However, there has to be something...

_DING!_

"That's it!" The three had a light bulb go on above their heads and run off to put their new idea into action.

**And done! So, this took quite awhile. A couple of reasons for that, but I think the main one is what I recently realized why this crossover never really gets finished properly:**

**I don't have something to really bounce off of in terms of background info.**

**Rebirth from the Ashes was at least something as there was a bit more backstory that lead to the main point. My first one and here, not so much. Plus, the Sonic timeline is so scatterbrained at this point, I don't want to just cherry pick since all the games have at least some cool ideas to work with.**

**What about MLP? Honestly, I'm more familiar with the more recent seasons than the early ones, hence the placement. I'm currently watching what I missed in my spare time for better use of the characters going forward.**

**So what does this mean? Well, this is still going no matter what. I still have the rest of the world to travel and I can set up some of those ideas I have in mind for future references.**

**I want at least one complete story for this crossover and I'm gonna do that eventually.**

**With that said, thanks for reading and I'll see you next chapter!**


	6. C5: Nocturnal Nature

**Hello, fellow readers! And welcome back to the Sonic Chronicles! Last time, we had more familiar faces show up as the situation is getting more potent. The princesses have found out that someone is most likely pulling strings from behind the scenes, writing a letter to warn the Mane Six about the mastermind as they were finding ways to find the emeralds.**

**Oh? We have a couple of reviews this time:**

**jr1550434: I would love to update this story more often, but I do have other stories that I want to work on too. Though, I'll try to be a little more frequent.**

**foxchick1: Glad you think so!**

**Exodia3215: Thanks, I'll try to.**

**With those in play, let us continue!**

**Chapter 5: Nocturnal Nature**

Twilight has just finished up reading the letter to her from Princess Celestia as she spoke up, "Shouldn't be surprised that the princesses would find the cause. Though, if this is caused by somepony, then we better go to Canterlot to meet with them."

"Probably best that we go tomorrow. It is getting rather late." Fluttershy remembers seeing the sun setting as they came to the castle.

"W-Wait, it's almost nighttime?" Nat was feeling uneasy about that, which Sonic catches. "Something wrong?"

"Huh? No-well, maybe." Nat stumbles over his words as he answers, "...I may have a small fear of the dark."

"Oh. I get ya." Sonic casually said.

"Yup." Nat then quickly moves over to Twilight before asking, "I don't wanna sound rude, but do you mind if I stay for the night?"

"You know, I was actually gonna ask you the same thing." She mentions as she looks at Team Sonic, "Would you three also want to stay the night?"

Sonic was the first one to answer, "Sure! I don't see why not."

"Same here. Much appreciated." Tails chimes in.

"Sure. Be a nice change of scenery to sleep in a castle." Knuckles casually comments as his answer.

"Then it's settled." Applejack spoke up, "We rest up and head out first thing tomorrow morning."

"Why the morning? Can't it be noon?" Rainbow complains, making the others chuckle a bit in the process.

Twilight watches as Team Sonic and Nat were being lead by Spike with her friends heading back to their homes, leaving her and Starlight in the map room as the latter stops using the projection spell and held the green gem in her aura close by.

"Funny, he forgot to take this back." Starlight then gets an idea, "Though, I am rather curious on how it works..."

"I don't think experiments are such a good idea on something from another world." Twilight warns her, "Our magic may have a dangerous reaction to it."

Starlight simply sends a blank stare at her, "You know I'm not that crazy, right?"

"I'm not saying that!" Twilight denies such accusations that Starlight thinks she was implying, letting out a nervous chuckle in response as her friend simply rolls her eyes.

Changing the subject, Twilight then pulls out a scroll and quill for her to write with as she spoke. "Anyways, I'd better send a letter back to tell them about our situation."

"OK then." Starlight simply said as she then takes her leave.

Twilight was the last one left as she wrote her letter:

_Dear Princess Celestia and Luna,_

_Thanks for letting us know about what was going on. In fact, we currently have visitors from another world as well. There's Sonic the Hedgehog with his friends Tails and Knuckles, and Naturo or Nat for short. We also had an encounter from a massive machine that was made by a nemesis of his, who wants to take over his world using such inventions. We managed to take it down, but there was some collateral damage in the process. Don't worry, the citizens are safe and the damages were repaired._

_Back to the matter at hand, it seems that Sonic also knows Princess Blaze and Silver, mentioning having a couple of adventures with them before and also facing this 'Eggman Nega' as well. In the end, we decided to rest for the night and meet you two at Canterlot tomorrow to get all the information we need._

_From, Twilight Sparkle_

She has finished up her letter just as Spike enters the room, a smile on her face at such luck as she walks over to him. "Just in time, Spike!"

* * *

The moon was clear in the night sky as the light shines down upon the ruins of the Two Sisters' Castle, a calm wind blowing through what is left of the buildings for a few moments before a purple gem appears and opens up a portal inside the throne room, shooting out a figure before fading away. The figure lands on his feet in a crouching position before standing up and taking in his surroundings.

"Wow, this counts as architecture in the past?" He wonders out loud, curious as to why it was like this.

"If so, it's most likely ruins of sorts." A female voice clarifies for him, "The gem has brought us here to find the others, of course."

He then remembers the gem as he looks to where the portal was, seeing it on the ground nearby and goes over to retrieve it before seeing it glow again. A purple light shines throughout the room, blinding the two for a moment before fading away. When it did, the two were stunned at the restored ruins before them as the moon still shines down from the sky above.

"Heh, like night and day." He jokes, noticing the banners of the sun and moon with their respective rulers who were represented by... horses of some kind?

"Indeed. Whatever happened here?" The female voice wonders out loud before her wielder notices something off.

It was instant as a strange shadow had made its way towards the purple gem before snatching it and forming a dark sphere of sorts around it.

"Drop the gem, demon!" He unsheathes his sword before leaping right towards the sphere, delivering a mighty swing that didn't land as his target floats out of range and attempts an escape.

"Give chase, quick!" The female voice warns him, which he knew as he does just that.

Going into one of the many hallways, he was hot on the sphere's trail as it tries to outmaneuver the young knight. Though, he proves to be quite agile as he makes the sharp corner turns before seeing it open a portal in front of a door.

"It's trying to leave us in this time!" The female voice exclaims, mainly surprised at the shadow's use of the gem's power.

"A cheap tactic!" Her wielder growls as he jumps through before it closes.

He was caught off guard at a sudden drop with a spiraling staircase towards the floor below. Quickly recovering, he lands his feet around the edge and slides down the spiral like a slide.

"Woo!" He honestly couldn't help but feel excitement with this improvised ride.

"Feeling a bit dizzy!" The female voice admits.

He reaches the bottom soon after and continue the chase as they see the sphere going straight down the hallway, catching up quickly before seeing it phase through the wall.

"Slippy snake, isn't it?" The female voice comments.

"Yeah. Too bad for it, the ruins are falling apart anyways!" The young knight goes full speed before jumping right at the wall, delivering a strong kick to break through.

However instead of breaking, he must have triggered some sort of switch with his foot as the entire section of the wall spun around multiple times before stopping, having them appear on the other side as he lands on his feet.

"That works too!" He simply said before spotting the sphere down yet another hall, "You won't escape me!"

He gives chase once more, noticing it slowed down. Something was definitely up before a dark spike stabs the carpet below.

_CLICK!_

By instinctive reflex, he leaps high above and glances down to see a trapdoor open below. He grits his teeth in annoyance as the sphere proves to be rather trickier than he thought. Seeing it still in position at the moment, he swung to try damaging it, only for it to dodge and slip away once again. He lands with a roll and onto his feet in an instant to run after it.

"This shadow is sentient and knows the castle rather well." The female voice points out, "We can't catch it by-"

Her sentence was cut off as her wielder narrowly avoids a suit of armor that came to life, most likely powered by the shadow's energy as he leaps back. Seeing the whole hall filled with the possessed armors as they run towards him, he simply smirks.

"Outta the way!" A burst of energy forms around him, activating a Soul Surge as he spins his sword in the air and catches it in a reverse grip.

"Begone!" The female voice shouts right before he attacks.

_SLASH!_

In one slice, he appears on the other side of the dark knights before they fell apart a moment after he readjusts his grip on his sword to a normal one. His small triumph didn't last as the wall beside him flips like the previous one did, vertically this time, and lands him outside on the castle walls. Not wasting anymore time, he runs along it in hopes of spotting the sphere once more.

"Despite the obvious, this castle is quite the ride!" He admits with a cheery tone in his voice.

"We'll enjoy it fully after getting the gem back!" The female voice reminds him of their objective.

Speaking of which, he then sees the sphere now climbing the outside of a nearby tower. Using his current momentum, he leaps onto the nearby walls as he scales along it, reaching the edge of the roof and jumps off that onto the tower wall, sprinting right up towards his target.

The shadow notices him and begins to fire dark orbs at him, making him bob and weave and even slice through before the female voice continues her thought from earlier.

"We need to catch it off guard!" She advised, which he then comes up with an idea. "I'll distract it then as you go inside!"

The young knight then throws his sword into one of the windows as he pasts it while still dodging the orbs coming his way. His reflexes and agility were put to the test as the orbs were getting faster, some even tried homing in on him before he dodges in the nick of time to have them clash with the wall or another orb. The sphere then finally reaches the top of the tower, ready to unleash another swarm of dark energy before-

"Gotcha!"

The sword from before lands a hit, slicing the sphere open from behind that stuns it as the young knight leaps into the air past the two, the sword still spinning from her attack before landing flawlessly into her wielder's hand to take the opening. The two strikes were enough to make it burst, letting go of the gem as he grabs it firmly in his free hand.

"All right!" He cheers with a fist pump downwards and a smile on his face.

"Wait, something's wrong." His sword was right as she sees the shadows emitted from the moonlight were forming into something.

His instincts kicked in time to avoid a sudden spike from where he stood, heads of what seems to be horses launching out afterwards towards the young knight. He leaps off the tower to avoid getting swarmed, the demonic horse heads giving chase as the tables have turned.

"What is this thing!?" He was understandably confused as to what was happening.

"Before that, we need to find a way to stop it!" His sword warns her wielder, "It came from the past, so let's lure it there!"

"Right!" He agrees with that plan before using the gem once more, opening a portal in free fall to enter it.

He was quick to have his feet forward as he lands on pillars that were connected by concrete going downwards, much like a railing of sorts. He turns around to see the horse heads emerge from the portal before it closes, completing step one. Turning around, his eyes widen as the rail was going towards one of the large windows.

"Now!" His sword shouts, making him refocus and use the gem again to open another portal.

Leaping right through, he spins in the air to then immediately close it behind himself and back-flips to land on his feet. Waiting for what felt like minutes to see it wasn't following them anymore, the two were glad that the plan worked out.

"Excellent work, Sir Sora!" His sword compliments him on a job well done.

"I should say that to you since it was your idea, Caliburn." Sir Sora shoots right back, making his sword let out a chuckle.

Her chuckle was short as she notices something over his shoulder, which he notices before she lets out another warning. "Look out!"

His instincts kick in a bit too late this time, managing to avoid a surprise attack from behind, only for it to knock the purple gem out of his hand with a sharp tentacle. A horse head forms from it as it tries to grab the gem within its mouth, only for Sora to slice the head clean off with a quick spin slash and catches the gem using the momentum before landing on his feet.

"How!? I thought we left it in the past!" Sora exclaims out of confusion, his eyes focused on the shadow as it starts to take on a more solid form.

Caliburn was thinking that too before taking a glance at Sora's shadow and connecting the dots. "Your shadow! It must have been when we cornered it on the tower!"

Sora makes that connection soon after, remembering her saying the shadows were taking shape. His must have been one of them, which means it outsmarted them right back!

"If we can't outrun it, then we fight it!" He took a battle stance as the shadow completes its form.

Instead of a horse like the heads before, it instead resembles more of a goat that has curved horns and sharp yellow eyes. Sora flips Caliburn over to place the purple gem inside an open slot shaped like it before the blade changes to match its color.

"It's time to end this battle!" Sora exclaims before going on the offensive by running straight towards his foe.

The shadow sents a sinister glare as the shadows formed from the moonlight took another form like before, shooting out spikes that Sora slides past and rolls to get back onto his feet before swinging at the shadow, only for it to take no effect as it went tangible at the last second to avoid any damage.

"Of course it would rely on such trickery!" Caliburn was livid at this, understandably so as Sora agrees with her.

His swing left him open though, allowing it to attack with one of its tendrils by slamming itself into his abdomen and sends him flying into the wall above. He quickly recovers and lands on said wall before launching himself right back with a strong thrust, only for it to miss as well as the shadow became tangible again. Landing a few feet away, he leaps upon his foe and delivers slash after slash in a desperate attempt to land something.

The shadow kept going in and out from the two forms, knowing when each hit was going to land and when the blade goes past it, making Sora rather annoyed at this as he does a spinning slash and lands away from it to then leap right back. However, this leaves him open as another tendril shoots out from the shadow itself, sending him flying back again.

Flipping back to a stable position, he then throws Caliburn like a projectile as it spins right for the shadow, fazing through once again right past it before flying off behind it. The sword then comes spinning right back like a boomerang and delivers its own surprise attack-

_SWOOSH!_

And even that wasn't enough as it have learned this trick from the tower earlier. A tendril smacks Caliburn into the air, which Sora catches as he flips over the shadow high above and lands on the ground with a skillful roll.

Sora's eyes then widen as a spike erupts out of the shadow right below him that makes him jump back in surprise, making him realize something crucial. If that just now was possible, then even his own shadow can be used against him!

His agility was once again put to the test as he leaps and flips from every spike that emerges from below before finally leaping right towards his foe with a mighty swing. His counterattack was only swatted away like the other ones as a large tendril swings towards his side, barely being blocked as he was slammed into the wall. Falling from where he was slammed into, the shadow took the opening and makes a large spike erupt towards him.

"No you don't!" Sora was saved by Caliburn as she blocks the point of the spike, making her wielder fall over to the side as the blade slid down it before Sora pushes his foot off from the solid spike.

The shadow must have been getting annoyed or something from how persistent its prey was being as it then decides to summon the dark orbs from before and launches them right at the two like homing shots.

Sora manages to have solid footing upon landing as he has a burst of energy surround himself, meeting the orbs with a barrage of slashes to slice them all down. Upon the final orb being sliced in two, the shadow stares daggers into him as it prepares another swarm to bombard them with. However, its prey wasn't fazed by the glare.

In fact, it can faintly see a smirk upon Sora's face.

The moonlight was shining down from the night sky, making Caliburn's glowing edge more noticeable until it shined quite fiercely in an instant.

Within that instant, the shadow felt something pierce through its solid form. Multiple times.

As it turns out, the trails from where the blade was swung beforehand gained physical form, freezing it solid in its place as almost every space around itself was taken by the solid trails.

Launching himself like a rocket, he delivers a powerful thrust into the solid shadow before appearing on the other side, everything standing still for a single moment. No sound, no movement. A pebble then falls from the debris above and breaks apart upon hitting the ground right as the trails glow and burst, destroying the evil shadow into a small mist that it leaves behind before disappearing completely.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Sora stands up straight and turns to where the shadow was as the gem's glow on Caliburn's blade fades.

"What even was that thing?" He couldn't help but ask, knowing that it has no answer.

"Perhaps a ghost from the past of this castle, unable to rest its soul." Caliburn had a more sorrowful answer, though it's just speculation.

Sora stays silent as he pulls out the gem to put in one of his pouches before placing Caliburn into her sheath that is placed on his back.

With that battle at its end, he then decides to see what else these ruins has to offer, looking into the nearest hallway to see a rather large library of sorts. Sora was rather impressed that such a place was still rather intact after all this time as he walks inside.

"You know, I think this isn't our past timeline." Sora speculates as his gaze falls upon an open corridor in the middle of two large bookshelves.

"I had the same feeling when the shadow took form." Caliburn admits to having a similar thought as Sora enters the corridor, "Wherever we are, it isn't a place we know."

He simply nods in response as he looks around what seems to be a room most likely for private reading of sorts. Walking around the edges, he looks at the various books on the shelves and pasts them to reach the two windows, again having the strange horses from the banners before. Looking at his reflection in the glass, he was mostly unscathed from the previous battle.

His brown fur was a bit ruffled along with his dark brown short spiky unkempt hair on his head as he raises his hands to fix them. His white fur muzzle was fine as his sky blue eyes were busy looking up at what he was currently doing.

His attire was designed to be stylish and suited for traveling. He wore a black zipped-up hoodie that has white-colored short sleeves, pockets and 'ears' on the hood for his ears, complete with gray lining for the ends. His fingerless white gloves have a gauntlet-like design with the gauntlet part being black with a white circle on each glove on the back of the hand in the center, white buckled straps on the wrists with a small silver buckle and gray linings outlining the gauntlet part. He also wore a pair of long black shorts with white-colored pockets and gray linings around the sides and over where his knees are. Finally, black buckled shoes with white straps held by silver buckles completed the look.

He finishes straightening his fur out and gives a smile at his reflection, which Caliburn comments with a hint of sarcasm. "Ah yes, I hardly recognize you now."

"Ha. Good one." Sora only gives a deadpan response before letting out a yawn.

He then takes off his scabbard, which had a rather simplistic design of being black with a golden flame around the edges, with Caliburn in tow before leaning the two against the nearby wall and plopping onto the pillows on the ground beside him.

"Man, haven't exerted that much in awhile..." He admits from their current travels, "Still, I wonder why the gems have brought us to another world..."

"Best that we wait until morning when we have our energy back." Caliburn advises, which does make sense as Sora agrees to that. "True... Goodnight, Caliburn..."

Sora then falls asleep as Caliburn returns the gesture, "Same to you, Sir Sora..."

Upon saying those words, the two fall asleep as the ruins were now silent once again in the pale moonlight.

* * *

Opening his eyes, his vision was a bit blurry as Sonic could see the stars in the night sky and blinks to make his vision clear up. Looking down and seeing his body, he then looks around to find himself in a rather familiar place.

It was a forest with thick trees and leaves as the night sky was shining light through the spots that weren't covered, including the small open field he was currently standing in. Before he could open his mouth, he hears a feminine voice from behind that seems to echo a bit.

"Who are you?"

Turning around, he didn't see anyone and blinks to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. Upon looking closer, he could see a silhouette in the shadows of the trees approaching the open field. Turning fully around, he watches as the person in question is revealed under the moonlight.

Except it wasn't a person, but rather a pony.

A mane that resembles a starry sky and a crescent moon for her cutie mark, Sonic was rather curious as to who she could be as she approaches the blue hedgehog.

"I ask again, who are you?" She stops a few feet away with an equally curious look on her face.

"Well, I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog." His confidence is also still intact as he answers her question.

Her face changes to that of surprise for a moment before reverting to a calm one, "I see, then you're the one Twilight mentioned."

Now it was his turn to be surprised, "Wait, when did she tell you about me?"

"She sent a letter to us after my sister send her one to warn her of a new threat." The starry pony answers, making him connect the dots for a moment.

"Wait, Twilight got a letter from this Princess Celestia, who happens to be your sister. That means you're a princess too?"

"Correct. I am Princess Luna, ruler of the night and overseer of dreams." The starry pony introduces herself back.

Sonic simply rubs his nose a bit with a small chuckle, "Now it makes sense. So, you watch over dreams?"

"Indeed. How else do you think we are speaking as of this moment?" Princess Luna makes a good point.

He was pretty impressed by this, but can't help but faintly recall experiencing a similar situation. Dreams was one of the main factors, he knows that much at least. Getting back to the conversation, he was admittedly curious on how this dream world works.

"Then wait, am I in your dream or are you in mine?"

"I am in yours as I can access anypony's dream through one of many doors."

Before he knew it, the world around faded away except for the night sky as it was the only backdrop for the two of them, going on for miles and miles until doors flew right pass them before slowly stopping to a halt.

"Whoa, you weren't kidding." Like the night sky around them, the doors went on for miles in a long line.

"The doors represent each pony and other inhabitants throughout Equestria. Though, I didn't expect that even those that come from another world allows me to go through their dreams, since you are here." She explains to him, gesturing to the unique designs on each door nearby.

He notices the cutie marks that belonged to the Mane Six and even a simple design that he can guess belongs to others like Spike and even Naturo. The last one looks a bit different from the rest, most noticeably a dark aura surrounding it like a frame.

"What's going on with that one?" Sonic points out to her, who immediately knew what it was.

"The aura is a sign that the dreamer is having a nightmare." The princess grew serious as she answers.

"A nightmare, huh? Is it possible to help them?" Sonic was serious about that, which she nods to.

"It is one of the duties as an overseer. Let us make haste." Princess Luna lead the way as the two enter through the door.

Reaching the other side, the two find themselves in yet another forest with no stars to be seen in the night sky, only the pale crescent moon in a circular opening through the thick clouds covering the rest up above. Though, their gaze was mainly on what seems to be an abandoned building as it was condemned some time ago. Broken and boarded up windows on both floors, holes in the walls, and the doors for the entrance has fallen to the ground to rot away as the two make their way inside.

Sonic was rather perplexed that such a place exists within Nat's mind. Questions start to form in his own mind as Princess Luna uses her magic to light up her horn, making it easier to see inside the darkness.

"Your friend seems to hide something deep within, much like every other pony." She mentions, "What do you know about him?"

"Honestly, not much." Considering what has happened recently, Sonic never had that cross his mind. "He's a good person and lives in nature, much like me in comparison."

"I see. Then may I-"

_ROAR!_

Her next words got caught in her throat as a loud howling roar was heard from deep inside the building while echoing throughout, sounding as if it was a cave high in the mountains. While she was understandably stunned, Sonic was practically as solid as a statue.

_"Wait, it couldn't be..."_ His mind forms the words as his memory resurfaced to try and recognize the familiar sound.

"Get away from me!" He did recognize that voice though.

"Nat!" Sonic calls out as he speeds off, surprising Princess Luna at the fact he is able to perform such a feat.

He may not know the layout, but that hasn't stopped him from running into dangerous territory. Running down the halls and turning a couple of sharp corners, he then stops dead in his tracks as a sudden force broke through the wall on his right. What caused the impact was right in front of him as it flew narrowly past him.

A long stretched-out fist.

Shooting right back to where it came from, Sonic follows it to reach a rather spacious room with two figures already occupying it. The silhouette of some beast growls as it approaches the prey who was on the floor before pouncing upon him, only to get knocked out of the air by Sonic's signature Homing Attack. The two land on their feet far from each other as Princess Luna finally catches up, illuminating the entire room with her magical light.

Sonic now has a full view of the situation. His friend Nat was lying on the floor who was now out cold, along with being covered in dirt and cuts across his body. The beast he just knocked away was revealed to be-

"So this is what she meant."

The beast was in fact Nat as well, only in a form that Sonic knows all too well as the Werehog. His fur was a darker shade of green with dark orange eyes that have slit pupils and grayish brown skin. However, even with those differences, Sonic still feels like he's looking at a twisted mirror of himself.

"Luna, take care of Nat! I'll deal with this!" Sonic left no room for argument with his stern request, his eyes firmly on the beast as a blue aura surrounds Nat and takes him away from the battle.

Placing the green hedgehog beside herself, she then puts up a forcefield that replaces the gaping hole in the wall that was made earlier.

The blue blur knows the abilities of the Werehog as he was one himself. The form exchanged his natural speed and instead makes him a powerhouse with stretchy limbs for effective range games. However, that trade off may be the one advantage he has in this fight as the two start to circle around each other.

The beast was glaring at this newcomer that has interrupted its hunt as Sonic was stepping to the side with his fists up and a serious expression on his face. This charade didn't last long as the Werehog launches a claw at the blue blur, only for it to miss as he zooms right under and immediately counterattacks. A lightning fast one-two punch combo knocks the Werehog back a bit before it recovers.

Swinging its other arm to try and gain back ground, that too was a miss as Sonic leaps up and lands on the arm before running along it in a flash. Reaching the beast in no time, he slams his shoe into its head with a swift kick that sends it flying. A graceful flip and landing on his feet, he kept his guard up as the Werehog was back up rather quickly.

Realizing what its opponent is capable of, it decides to go on the offense by running on all fours towards the blue blur. Sonic rushes it right back as the two get into a series of exchanging blows with each other. While Sonic had the superior speed, the Werehog was no slouch as it was delivering claw swipes and hammer swings at a rapid pace, keeping the blue hedgehog on his toes. The ground broke apart from any slams and slashes that hit it before swinging both its hands in a cross slash attack, which Sonic leaps over to dodge.

Landing on the ceiling, he quickly looks to see the Werehog launching a punch right for him and does a spinning jump to maneuver around it. However, that left him open as the Werehog launches its other hand right for him, landing a direct hit that slams him into the wall. Following up with this, it clenches the hand into a firm grip before reeling its arms back to slam its foe into the ground, making the hedgehog bounce on impact and delivers a strong haymaker to send him flying.

A puff of smoke erupted from the point of impact, the Werehog grinning in satisfaction before turning to the forcefield on the wall. Its prey was behind there, still out cold on the floor, its annoyance at the scuffle was ready to fuel its rage to break the field-

_DING!_

A brief glimmer was noticed at the corner of its eye, not even given time to turn and look before getting caught off guard by a sudden gust of wind surrounding it. The wind was enough to knock it a bit off balance, but it held its ground before a hard hit knocks it back. And another, and another, and another, and another.

A strong barrage of hits bombarded the Werehog, the last few hits making it rise in the air before Sonic appears front and center in a crouching position and slams his shoe right into its chin. The resulting somersault kick sends the beast skyward, going right through the ceiling and up high in the sky as Sonic charges up and launches himself after his opponent, passing right by the beast who was still stunned from the beatdown in the process.

Performing a spindash to build momentum, Sonic then finishes it with a powerful axe kick into its skull and sends it falling straight down into the ground below. Smoke erupted from the impact again as Sonic falls back down and bounces like a ball to then land safely on his feet. When the dust is settled, the Werehog was knocked out cold, leaving Sonic as the victor.

Looking over to see the forcefield, he casually walks over to it and knocks on it, getting Princess Luna's attention as she was consoling Nat who was now awake. She was rather relieved upon seeing him as she lets down the forcefield.

"Are you all right?" She asks the obvious question, but Sonic didn't mind. "Don't worry, I've dealt with worse."

"What are... you two doing here?" Nat was rather fatigued at this point, getting the two's attention.

"I oversee the dreams of those in Equestria. Yours is no different." Princess Luna gives him the short answer before Sonic takes it from here, getting straight to the point.

"Be honest with me. How do you know about the Werehog?"

Nat was rather surprised that Sonic knows what the beast is, but decides to answer his question first. "That... is a part of me."

Sonic was rather curious while avoiding making assumptions as he continues to listen, which Nat took as an opportunity to continue.

"For as long as I can remember... this would happen to me when it becomes too strong for me to hold back. My dad had this power and taught me the basics, but every beast is different throughout his lineage... and I don't mean royalty, more like a tribe of sorts."

Sonic recalls the Echidna tribe from his world that Knuckles descended from, but kept it in mind as Nat continues.

"My mom is why I look like this instead of... you know. She even knitted this scarf for me. It's nice, right?"

"Rarity would be jealous." Sonic quips, lightening the mood a bit as the three give a light chuckle.

"Forgive my curiosity, but does your father have the power to change forms too?" Princess Luna wonders.

"Actually, his tribe are born as the Werehogs, a rather powerful race that gains their full power under the moonlight." Nat clarifies before shaking his head a bit, "Good thing my power is incomplete, otherwise it would have been much harder to take down."

Nat swallows as his mind drifts to the times the Werehog was let loose, making him rather thankful that Sonic and Princess Luna were here this time.

"Thank you, I really mean it." His dry tears on his cheeks were starting to get wet again as he spoke, "I'm always terrified of... losing myself to this side of myself. And I admit... I fear I may not come back this time..." He couldn't hold back his tears at this point, holding his hands up to hide his face.

Sonic kinda understands that. In the battles with his Werehog form, he felt himself get lost in rage at times while fighting Dark Gaia spawns and those corrupted by its dark energy. However, his friend Chip helped him balance out that side, most likely thanks to his power.

Princess Luna then walks past him and places a hoof on the green hedgehog's shoulder, "I know how you feel."

The latter sniffles as he slightly moves his hands to let him see her, "Y-You do?"

"Indeed. A long time ago, I fell into a dark place as I believed that our subjects prefer my sister over myself, basking in the sunlight while sleeping under the stars. No one would appreciate my work and that jealousy manifested me into a dark being called... 'Nightmare Moon'."

Her memories of such times were still a bit difficult as she continues after taking a seat in front of him, "I stood against my sister and fought her for supremacy over Equestria, wanting to make the night sky eternal with no sun in sight. However, she uses the Elements of Harmony and seals me on the moon for a thousand years."

Sonic again finds himself making parallels to another adventure he had as he listens to her story, "Once I escaped, Twilight and her friends uses the Elements once again, turning me to who I was before. To this day, I thank them for giving me this second chance."

Nat was fascinated by her tale, getting that she has experience with a dark side as well. Though, one idea came to mind.

"...Did this 'Nightmare Moon' go away?"

Princess Luna simply shook her head no, "That side of myself became a burden I had to endure for a long time. Legends of this malicious me was told to the newer generations when I was sealed away, making it harder for them to accept my true self... and even then, I made myself have a nightmare that forces me to relive that. The scars of my heinous actions ran deep and despite overcoming these, I know deep down that she is a part of me no matter what."

"...I see." Nat simply said as he thought about that last part, but that was short-lived as the princess brings up something.

"Though perhaps, that is half of the reason."

He was understandably confused at what she means, which was made evident by his facial expression that she sees.

"Not only do you fear loss of control, but also losing more than just that."

Nat took a moment to think before reaching the realization, which is what Sonic also reaches as he spoke. "That part I doubt."

"How so?" Princess Luna looks right at the blue blur as she asks that.

"I was a Werehog too. When my friends saw me as it, they were taken aback at first before understanding why it was happening to me. Once they did, they didn't treat me any different. And you know why?"

Nat looks at him with a hint of hope in his eyes, "Why?"

"Because they knew that I was still me. Our friends would accept you for the same reason, don't worry." He reassures the green hedgehog.

Nat felt himself smile at this, the tears changing from sorrow to joy before launching himself at Sonic to give him a hug. The latter was taken aback a bit before returning the gesture. Princess Luna smiles at this as well as it lasts for a few seconds before ending.

"Thank you, both of you. Seriously." Nat was genuinely happy to hear that, "And I hope you're right about me... taming this beast."

"If we can do it, you will do the same in time." Princess Luna agrees with him with Sonic giving a thumbs up.

Next thing they knew, a bright light started to envelope the area around them before blinding them, ending the nightmare.

**And done! Wow, talk about my motivation kicking into gear this time.**

**The first section is wrapping up the group's plan of action from last chapter. Not much else, really.**

**The second section, I'm actually proud of writing this one. Along with reintroducing an old OC, this level was fun to imagine playing through. The Castle of the Two Sisters, called 'Historic Hopper' level-wise, involves chasing the shadow that has the purple gem who uses its power to jump between the past and present to try and lose you. It then ends with a boss fight against the shadow.**

**The shadow itself is a boss that only takes damage when it exposes an opening, similar to Sonic Unleashed without quick time events. It uses traps and tendrils to attack from long range, so close the gap by dodging them and attack while it recovers. An exposed opening allows more damage, obviously. However, who did the shadow belong to? We shall see in due time.**

**I bet a couple of questions were raised from this part, most noticeably Caliburn himself. Or rather herself. You may be thinking, "why the change? He was male in canon." That's true... in the main canon. The storybook canon, more accurately.**

** To show how different the new dimension is, it may have changes that varies it from stuff in original canon. Plus, I recently found out that the story writer who wrote Caliburn originally imagined the sword to have a female voice, but the other writers mistaken the dialogue to have a male voice. Fun fact, the original sword is voiced by Reala from Nights into Dreams, so why not another parallel and have the female sword be voiced by Nights who also has a female voice.**

**And finally, a neat little dream sequence to have Sonic introduced to Princess Luna and reveal a secret of Naturo's. Not gonna lie, this was pretty fun to write. Say what you will about the Werehog, but I actually really like the concept. A wild powerhouse with exaggerated limbs that stretch out for interesting ranged battles, it can also be a curse that affects the individual mentally. Also fitting that Sonic and Princess Luna can help guide him in the right direction, thanks to experience.**

**The boss fight against the Werehog can be quite the challenge. True to its description, it can hit hard and can overwhelm you if you're not careful. However, Sonic's natural speed can even the playing field by dodging the stretchy limbs and closing the gap to attack. Master the speed of the wind and you will triumph!**

**Wow, that was a lot to dissect. Hope you all enjoyed it and with that said, I'll see you next chapter!**


	7. C6: Royalty and Reality

**Hello, fellow readers! And welcome back to the Sonic Chronicles! Last time, we have our main cast ready to start traveling once they have a night of rest, where we get another newcomer's arrival and the revealing of a dark secret in the meantime. What will happen next?**

**Well****, let us jump right in! **

**Chapter 6: Royalty and Reality**

Waking up to the light shining through the windows, Sora stretches his limbs out before getting up and immediately going to work on the research.

"Caliburn, wake up!" He calls out to his sword, though her voice sounded more distant than it should.

"Already ahead of you!"

He quickly deduces that she was already in the library reading, so he goes off to join her. The sword was already reading a book that was opened beforehand, levitating herself to get a better look at the pages.

"Good. What did you find out?" He asks out of curiosity.

"This book is about the various species that inhabits the world here. Currently, the most prominent are the ponies who also have their own factions. There are the Earth ponies who tend the land, the unicorns who specialize in magic, and the pegasi that control the weather." Caliburn informs him about, "So we were right, this world isn't our own."

"I see." Sora then looks around the library and sighs, "To be honest, I'd rather not go through all of these books just for research purposes."

"A smart suggestion. Not only it would be better, but also faster if we explore the world ourselves." Caliburn concurs as she floats over to Sora, who then places the sheath and sword on his back like normal.

"All right. Next stop, highest point!" He questions as he gets a running start to go up one of the concrete walls.

Jumping upwards and climbing past the gaping holes, he reaches the roof and looks around to see two towers that are about equal in height. Taking the one closer to where the morning sun was, he scales it while running upwards to circle it multiple times before reaching the very top.

Making sure to keep his balance, he looks out to see a large forest filled with thick foliage for quite a few acres before seeing a mountain range out in the distance. His eyes were able to make out something sticking out from the side of one of them, appearing to be yet another castle.

"How unfortunate that we only have one of the gems. Wind or Sky would have been of great assistance to utilize here." Caliburn points out.

"Just means we do it the old-fashioned way." Sora simply said before leaping off the tower into the forest below.

* * *

Blaze and Silver were currently being escorted to the dining room as Princess Celestia was leading the way, making casual conversation with the two in the meantime.

"I see that life as royalty isn't the same in different dimensions." Princess Celestia said from what she has heard about from Blaze, "Though, that also goes for being the guardian of these special emeralds. Quite the stressful combination."

"Indeed it is." Blaze admits, "Honestly, these little adventures are rather nice to break from the usual duties. Still, I can't exactly relax with the emeralds being scattered about here."

"I can understand that. Back then, I used to be guarding the Elements of Harmony before they found themselves in six successors in the recent years. In fact, those murals you saw in the throne room are who I speak of." Princess Celestia recalls.

"Oh yeah!" Silver remembers what she means, "That's pretty cool that the Elements are able to do that stuff. Can you imagine if the Sol Emeralds or the Chaos Emeralds chose successors too?"

Blaze tries to imagine a scenario like that. While it would take some of the pressure off her shoulders, it's highly unlikely that might happen.

"I doubt it." Blaze simply said.

The three then reached their destination, entering a room that has a long table that can seat several at once. Four chairs are currently there as Princess Celestia spoke, "Come, sit."

The two guests took their seats as they see what awaited for them on the table to eat, "Pancakes?"

"Why, yes. I made them myself."

The two were quite surprised at this as the princess took her seat, "Please, dig in."

Silver wasn't about to complain, taking his utensils to cut a big piece and takes the bite. His eyes widen at the taste, "Wow, this is delicious!"

Blaze was now curious as she does the same, taking her own sizable bite. "Oh my! You're right!"

Princess Celestia is glad that the two enjoy her cooking, but gets a question pop into her head as she cuts into her pancakes. "I take it that you have yours made by other chefs?"

"Huh? Oh yes. They tend to be highly qualified, so I don't complain too much about it." Blaze was still processing her tasty bite as she answers, "Although, I have dabbled in cooking myself from time to time."

"...I'm just not a cook." Silver nervously chuckles upon admitting that before taking another bite.

It was then that Princess Celestia realizes that Silver wasn't using his hands, but rather an aura similar to those that use magic like the unicorns. She was now quite curious about this power of his, "How are you able to do that, Silver?"

Silver could only blink at her question as he finishes another bite, "How do I what?"

"Your levitation spell. Is it the quills on your heads or the gloves that you wear?"

Blaze realizes what she meant right as Silver does with the latter answering, "Right! Different world, different rules. This isn't magic, but rather my psychokinesis that I can access using the power of my mind. You're half right though, my gloves help keep it focused without it going crazy."

"That's quite the gift to have." After saying that, a set of doors open to reveal Princess Luna entering the dining room. "Morning, sister! I made you breakfast."

She gestures to the chair beside her as Princess Luna had processed what she said, due to being half-asleep. "Thank you very much."

Blaze and Silver notice how tired she looked, the former asking out of a little concern. "Are you not a morning person, Princess Luna?"

Princess Luna notices the two guests at the table before answering, "No, I am not the 'morning pony' type. My job is to govern the night, after all."

"I see. My apologies then, I'm not familiar of such duties." Blaze admits, which Princess Luna didn't mind. "It's quite all right."

It was then that she sees Silver's psychokinesis, which perplexed her as to how he's capable of something that only magic users can do.

"He told me that his mind allows him to use such power." Her sister noticed the face she was making and knew what she was thinking.

"Really now?" Princess Luna wonders out loud, "Different worlds having such creatures able to do what they cannot... makes you wonder how powerful they are, don't you think?

"Why yes. Though, best to save such discussions until after we have eaten." Princess Celestia reminds her about the breakfast, which the two then dig into soon after.

* * *

Waking up to see a ceiling over his head, Sonic gets up and out of his bed before stretching out his limbs. Despite a rather realistic fight in the dream world, he feels refreshed like nothing had happened. Though, he knows full well about Naturo and wonder how he's holding up now.

Once he leaves his room, he then realizes something:

He doesn't know the way around the castle.

Luckily, Spike was heading his way and sees his blue friend. "Oh hey, you're awake."

"Just woke up. Anything happen?" Sonic wonders.

"Nope. Right now, Twilight and the others have already packed up and are heading to the train station." The winged dragon explains to him, "Your friends are already waiting by the entrance for you."

"Got it. Guess you're staying here?" Sonic couldn't help but ask him.

"Yeah. Since it's only a short trip, she wants me to look after the castle." Spike sounded a little bit disappointed about this, which Sonic catches and asks him about it. "Guess it's not that exciting around here?"

"Eh, you take what you get. I'm not like you guys who can go on adventures almost every day, you know." Spike simply answers with.

"You don't have to be. Even adventurers like us need help outside the adventure itself. Trust me, you guys got it good sometimes." Sonic reassures him before remembering something, "Oh right, they're waiting. I'll see you later."

With that said, Sonic zooms off to the castle entrance and leaves Spike alone to think about what he said. Reaching the doors in no time, Sonic does see his team standing nearby.

"Yo!" He greets the three, getting their attention.

"There you are! Was wondering when you'd wake up." Tails was the first to speak as he walks over to his best buddy.

"How long was I asleep?" Sonic couldn't help but ask at this point.

"It's almost noon." Knuckles answers for him, "I was about to come wake you up myself."

"Sorry about that. Let's get going!" Sonic then sprints out the door with Tails and Knuckles following behind.

The team were running through town as Tails spoke up, "It's just up ahead!"

"Gotcha! Be our eyes up there!" Sonic responds back with, which his friend agrees to and flies up higher.

Upon reaching a great view of the town, he can see the train station along with the train already there.

"The train's here!" Tails points out literally, gesturing for the two to see as they run to keep up.

"Then let's take to the skies!" Sonic orders as he then leaps into the air.

Tails grabs Sonic halfway, Knuckles jumping on soon after before Tails proceeds to spin the two round and round that is building up more momentum each spin. On the final spin, Tails raises the two upwards as Knuckles and Sonic seamlessly transition into the final step.

"Thunder Glide!"

The red echidna took the lead as the built-up momentum reaches max, making the three soar through the air like a pellet from a slingshot.

* * *

"You know, he said that he was fast. But..."

Rainbow comments as she was seeing the train coming to the station, "You sure he would have shown up by now?"

"I don't see why not. He ran from Zecora's tree to Ponyville in seconds." Starlight recalls from yesterday.

The train stops soon after, letting off the passengers from the ride over as the other girls went to board with Nat helping out by carrying some of their bags. Twilight stayed behind with Rainbow and Starlight as the three decided to hold out just a bit longer.

"Three seconds and that's it." Rainbow simply said before starting the countdown, "Three... Two... One-"

"Hold the train!"

They look around to see who said that before looking upwards, eyes widening at the fact that Team Sonic was flying towards them in a pillar formation before breaking apart and smoothly landing on their feet.

"Sorry, overslept!" Sonic quickly apologizes for as the three went to board the train.

"Of course he would have..." Rainbow mutters under her breath as she goes on board with Twilight and Starlight in tow.

Once all the passengers riding to Canterlot is on board, the train leaves the station as the group took their seats... Well, most.

"Why... so... much?" Nat was lying on the ground as he said this, mainly towards Rarity who answers. "That's strange. I made sure to pack the essentials this time."

Nat groans at the idea of her usual luggage before being lifted by a levitation spell and placed in an empty seat by Rarity, who also moves the luggage to where she was as they were in the way of the walkway.

"I thank you for the assistance, of course." She compliments his helpfulness, which he only gives a smile as his body was still recovering.

Sonic felt a bit sorry for the guy as he witnessed that, only for his attention to be diverted as Tails was sitting by him near the window and was witnessing the sights before the train enters the mountain tunnel.

"Feels kinda like a roller coaster since it's going upwards." Tails points out that Sonic can see what he means, "Yeah. Though, a roller coaster train... sounds bad."

"The weight won't be able to handle the loop-de-loops, much less sharp inclines." Tails deduces the problems that come with that idea.

"I kinda want to go to Twinkle Park now." Knuckles mentions from the seat behind them, leaning over it to join in the conversation.

"Maybe when we get back. It's been so long since I've been there." Sonic agrees with that notion.

Twilight was overhearing this along with Starlight who asks, "What's a 'roller coaster'?"

"No idea, but it isn't our priority right now." Twilight answers, getting them back on track as she then asks, "Sonic, would you mind telling us more about your friends over at Canterlot?"

"Blaze and Silver? Sure." Sonic answers before gladly telling them about the two.

"Blaze is a princess back at the Sol Dimension and guardian of the Sol Emeralds. She was more of a loner before meeting us, usually focused on her duties which makes sense. Another friend of ours though, Cream, definitely helped in breaking her out of that shell."

"Silver, believe it or not, comes from the future. Specifically, a future that took out both Mobius and Sol by fusing them together, much like what's happening right now. He was one of the few survivors that worked hard to protect it, even going through time to try and change it. Although we had a bit of a misunderstanding at first, we eventually joined forces to stop the calamity."

Tails and Knuckles already knew the stories as they watched the others' reactions to what Sonic said. The others overheard him, intrigued by what he has experienced before coming here.

"What kind of calamity was it?" Starlight wonders with the others thinking the same thing.

"One that threatened time and space. Though, that story is way too long for just one train ride." Sonic admits, which Tails chimes in to sum it up. "Two words, time travel."

Twilight and Starlight briefly look at each other, thinking the same thing of the latter's previous villainous scheme that had the same idea. Not wanting to think of that any longer, Starlight was about to speak when the group heard a thud on the roof of their car.

"What was that?" Twilight questions the obvious, which was answered immediately by a new face appearing outside the window by them.

"Greetings, travelers!"

The voice came from a cat that reminds Sonic of Blaze, only in form though as he doesn't know who this is. The others are understandably on edge since this guy just came from nowhere.

"We apologize for the intrusion, but would you mind if we ride inside?" Another voice, this time sounding female, asks the group.

"Mainly due to the incoming cavern!" The boy quickly added in a bit of a panic, glancing to where the train was heading as he did.

Sonic answered before anyone else did, "Hop in!"

The boy climbs right in just before the train enters the cave, landing swiftly in the walkway before turning to Sonic.

"Thanks-" Upon seeing the blue blur, his eyes widen in surprise. "W-Wait, are you-"

"Whoa whoa, whoa!" Rainbow interrupts the cat before pointing her hoof at him, "First off, who are you!?"

The cat blinks at the colorful pegasus before speaking, "Oh, sorry again. I'm getting ahead of myself."

He then backs up a bit before introducing himself, "Name's Sora Soluna, a new traveler in your world."

"Prince Sora Soluna." The female voice spoke up again, emphasizing the 'prince' part much to Sora's annoyance.

Upon hearing that, the others immediately remember the name from back in Ponyville. Nat decides to speak up at this point, getting Sora's attention.

"So this is what you look like in person."

"I don't recognize you, though. Are you from Prisma as well?" Sora wonders out loud.

"Yes, sir. In fact I have... uh..." Nat is looking for the gem he has, but can't find it in his 'hyperspace' at the moment.

"Oh! You forgot this yesterday." Starlight remembers the green gem he left with her as she lifts it up into clear view for the others.

"The Wind Gem!" The female voice points out.

"I was wondering why I felt one nearby..." Sora simply said before reaching his hand out, "May I have that back?"

Starlight was a bit confused at this, "Wait, I thought it belonged to-"

"To him." Nat points at Sora as he said this, "He's the protector of the gems. I-I was just holding on to it."

Starlight now understood the situation as the gem levitates into Sora's hand before the latter puts it in his pocket.

"Thank you, miss. And you as well, for holding onto it." The prince thanks the two in return.

"Wait, you're a protector too?" Knuckles questions, "I know I'm saying a lot, but is there a reason why you don't have all the gems right now?"

"It's a bit complicated. The short of it, the gems were acting up a bit before they started disappearing one by one. I only managed to get the purple one before coming here." Sora briefly explains, "And without knowledge of this world, I can't do my search effectively unless I introduce myself to the locals."

"Well, you came to the right ponies!" Pinkie pops up in front of him, making him lean back a bit in surprise.

"That's because we're in the same situation." Tails chimes in for clarification.

Sora looks around himself before speaking, "Oh. Well, fortune favors us today. May I ask for your names?"

"Name's Sonic!" Sonic starts them off as he gestures to who's who in his trio, "And these guys are Tails and Knuckles."

The two do a friendly gesture in response before Nat follows that up, "Name's Naturo, Nat for short."

"Fluttershy." The kind pegasus continues the chain with a simple wave.

"Rarity." The fancy unicorn simply said fluidly.

"Applejack." The pony with the hat tips it as she spoke.

"Rainbow Dash!" The colorful pegasus does a small backflip in the air before posing, showing off a bit before landing back down.

"Pinkie Pie!" The pink party pony pops out from above this time, confetti falling in the process.

"Twilight Sparkle." The princess of friendship does a simple introduction in comparison.

"Starlight Glimmer." The gifted unicorn finishes the string with confidence.

Sora does a simple nod to all of that, "Pleasure to meet you all. You all know who I am, but the other voice you heard belongs to-"

He points his thumb at his shoulder, where the hilt and handle of his sword was poking out to be seen over it. "My talking sword, Caliburn."

The ponies were understandably skeptical until the sword actually spoke as its face was on the center of the guard, "Hello, fellow ponies and guests."

"Wait, hold up!" Sonic hops off his seat and took a couple of steps towards the two before taking a closer look.

Despite the female voice, it looks exactly like the Caliburn he knew from the 'Black Knight' storybook.

"Whoa, that's weird. I wielded a Caliburn in one of my previous adventures. Though, he had a male voice..." He mentions, making Sora rather excited. "Wait, so am I right then!?"

"Right about what?" Sonic wonders about where he's going with this.

"You're THE Sir Sonic, Knight of the Wind!?"

The others, including Sonic, were flabbergasted at this as the blue blur questions it. "Wait, how do you know me!?"

"Who doesn't!? The blue hedgehog that took down the Black Knight to free our kingdoms long ago!? We ALL know that legend!" Sora then clarifies the last part, "Well, everyone in my world."

"Really? Then, how don't I know about it?" Nat questions, mainly to himself.

"To avoid any confusion, this legend is most likely on the Sonic in Prisma, not our Sonic." Tails briefly explains, which made the story make sense a bit.

Sora just realized what this means, making him scratch the back of his head with an embarrassed smile. "Sorry, jumped the gun there..."

"It's all right." Sonic reassures the prince with a confident smile, "I am quite popular, after all."

"You know..." Starlight jumps into the conversation at this point, "I'm actually curious on this legend you mentioned."

The others admit the same thing, which Sora was glad that they were. "Understandably so! It's a story worth remembering!"

"Considering what I've experienced, I'm curious on how similar the two are." Sonic mentions his interest as well.

"Although, I don't think we have much more time for stories." Twilight brings up, thinking about where the train currently is in terms of progress.

"In that case, I'll give you the cliff notes and elaborate later." Sora assures the group before starting from the top.

**And done! More straightforward this time, so what has happened:**

**Sora finds his next destination that happens to be Canterlot, which just so happened to be where Sonic and the others were going. Meanwhile at the castle, the princesses had a nice little breakfast with their guests.**

**That's about it, really. Though, this chapter leads into what I want to say.**

**While I was a bit hesitant on what will happen to this story, I've decided that this story specifically is gonna be a standalone. I've chosen the canon that I wanted to use and that will be expanded upon in future stories. However, this will be its own thing separate from those.**

**I now remember why I wanted to do this story in the beginning, that being giving you guys my interpretation of Sonic's world. How I protray his character, how I protray his friends and enemies, and most importantly, his interactions with others. **

**MLP is mainly the third option in my eyes, how he and the others interact with the ponies and their world, their reactions to the magic and mischief that accompanies it, that kind of stuff. Though, that doesn't mean they're not important to the plot.**

**Same goes for my OCs, who have their own world and experiences to expand as well. And sadly, I realize that's what really made my attempts end up unfinished. If it was just Sonic and MLP with no OCs, this would have been a different approach entirely.**

**Either way, once I finish up this story, I'll come back to this crossover in the future with my established canon and full knowledge of each side to tackle this challenge. Though, that is way later down the road.**

**With all that said, thanks for reading and see you next chapter!**


	8. C7: Reunions and Realizations

**Hello, fellow readers! And welcome back to the Sonic Chronicles! Last time, we had characters meet each other on the way to Canterlot. What will happen next? **

**Before that, w****hat do we have for today:**

**TopGun1986: Right now!**

**Now, let's go!**

**Chapter 7: Reunions and Realizations**

The train comes to a complete stop at the Canterlot station, opening their doors to let out their passengers and let in the new ones. The Mane Six were the first ones out, followed by Starlight, Naturo, Sora, and finally Team Sonic as the group stop to take in the scenery.

"Hey, not bad." Sonic comments on what he's seeing.

"It's as beautiful as it always is." Rarity reassures him.

"As a kingdom should be. It is an important landmark." Sora points out, obviously something he knows from his world.

Nat can agree on that part before hearing a rather interesting sound from afar, using his ears to try and detect which direction it was coming from. While he was doing that, Twilight mentions a neat little fact about herself.

"I actually lived in Canterlot before moving to Ponyville."

"Really? Why did you move?" Tails wonders about before their conversation was cut short by Rainbow.

"I don't want to be rude, but don't we have some important business to take care of?"

"She's right. We need to meet up with the princesses." Knuckles agrees with her there.

"Ahoy down there!"

The group looks around as Nat looks at the sky, detecting the strange sound soon after the voice calls to them. "There!"

Nat points to who called them, which Sonic recognizes instantly. "Hi ho, Silver!"

The others saw who he was referring to, which is another hedgehog with interesting quills as he floats down to them with an aura surrounding his figure until he reaches the ground.

"Sonic! It's been awhile!" He was rather happy about that, if his cheerful voice was anything to go by.

"Sure has! I would ask the obvious, but we have to go talk with the princesses." Silver knows about their priorities, which he confirms. "Funny you say that. I was actually coming over to escort you back!"

"Really? I mean, we already know where the castle is, so..." Twilight doubts the reason why he's here.

Her suspicions were on point as Silver nervously chuckles and admits, "Honestly, I wanted to see the town a bit. It's so vibrant and just great to see in general, especially from above!"

"Then lead the way! We got sights to see and a castle to visit!" Sonic was getting excited at exploring the town, thanks to his description.

Next thing the others knew, the two zoom off out of sight before they even let out a word to tell them the important part.

"... They're going the wrong way." Rainbow points out the humorous part of this.

"I would say we should go after them, but since Silver knows where the castle is, they'll catch up with us later." Tails knows those two from experience.

"Then let's head on over already!" Applejack exclaims, being one of the first to head off in the other direction towards the castle.

The group follow soon after, leaving Sonic and Silver to do their own thing for a bit.

* * *

Speaking of the duo, they were going at a rather casual pace in order to see the sights properly. Passing by the houses down one of the districts, Sonic was rather intrigued at the fact they were just normal ones compared to the buildings earlier.

Unbeknownst to Sonic though, Silver took a look up ahead before seeing a group of ponies playing a ball game with each other up ahead and watches as the ball goes sky high into the air. Seeing it starting to arc over the building next to them, he waves his hand to reach out towards it, grabbing it with his psychokinesis.

Sonic notices the group as they were looking up and follow their gaze, seeing a ball covered in a familiar aura and got the picture.

"Silver!" He zooms up ahead a bit before stopping, holding his hands up. "Pass it here!"

Silver hears the signal and levitates the ball over to himself, spinning it in a small orbit before shooting it right towards Sonic who catches it no problem and casually spins it on his finger before holding it in his hands proper. Spinning himself around one-eighty, he then holds it to for the nearest pony.

"Here you go." He simply said before the ball was taken by said unicorn.

"Whoa!" One of the ponies nearby voices her excitement as she walks up to Sonic, "Who are you!? I've never seen somepony like... well, you!"

"I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog!" The blue blur introduces himself as an answer, just as Silver lands on the ground nearby. "And he's Silver, who caught the ball earlier."

The latter simply waves in response, "Hi."

"Nice to meet you two! I'm Minuette!" The maya blue unicorn introduces herself back.

"Twinkleshine!" The ivory unicorn went next with a bright smile.

"Lemon Hearts." The yellow unicorn follows with an equally bright smile.

"Moondancer." The light yellowish gray unicorn with glasses went last with a smaller smile.

"So, what brings you two to Canterlot?" Twinkleshine asks, which Sonic answers. "We're actually here to see the princesses, but we sorta left that with Twilight and-"

He finds himself cut off as Minuette gasps, "You're friends with Twilight Sparkle too!?"

It was at this point that Sonic realizes what he heard earlier, "Yeah. You must be her friends from here, right?"

"Yeah! I'm kinda surprised that she mentioned us to you, considering how busy she is with the whole princess stuff." Minuette points out.

Sonic honestly just put two and two together, but kept that part to himself as Silver spoke up. "I just got an idea! Since you guys know Canterlot better than we do, mind to give us a small tour of the place?"

The four unicorns look at each other before huddling up to have a small discussion. After a bit, they separate before answering his offer. "Sure!"

"Thank you very much!" Silver smiles at this with Sonic doing the same before the latter spoke up, "Although, we don't want to take too long. We still have to head back to the castle soon to meet with the others."

"Oh, right." Silver agrees before coming up with another idea, "I can take them to the skies with my psychokinesis. That way, we can keep up with you no problem."

"How fast is he, exactly?" Moondancer was a bit curious at how he's making it sound.

With a reflexive cocky smirk, Sonic adjusts his gloves before readying himself into a sprint. "Don't blink."

_ZOOM!_

Right after he said that, the blue blur was just that as he disappears from their sight. The unicorns were stunned by this, having not seen a creature run so fast before. The blue streak left behind just disappears as he reappears in the same spot from before.

"And back." He casually said, standing like he was beforehand.

"Show off." Silver jokingly jabs at his blue friend.

* * *

In the meantime, the others have managed to reach the castle as the guards allow them inside. Heading towards the most likely place the princesses would be, they enter the throne room to be greeted by the other guest Sonic mentioned earlier.

"You must be Princess Twilight and her friends, correct?" Blaze stood at a comfortable distance from the group, greeting them as they enter.

"Yes. And you must be Princess Blaze." Twilight's greeting intrigued Blaze a bit.

"You've heard of me?"

"From outside sources, of course." Sora chimes in, getting her attention.

Looking in his direction, she sees that she and Silver weren't the only ones over here. "It's been awhile since I've seen all of you."

"Good to see you, Blaze." Tails said as Knuckles and Sora does a simple nod in agreement.

"H-Hi." Nat nervously added, knowing that he has yet to meet her in person.

Sora notices this and introduces him, "And this is Nat, someone who is also from my world."

"Nice to meet you." Blaze simply said in response.

It was at this point that the princesses have entered as well, "I see you've arrived without trouble." Celestia said as they see the group.

It took a bit, but introductions eventually came to an end before getting to the topic at hand.

"The emeralds are scattered about throughout Equestria, so going as one big group can be quite troublesome." Starlight brings up a good point.

"In that case, it's probably best that everyone should know about this if we want an unanimous decision." Tails then moves his glove up a bit to reveal the wristwatch communicator he used with Sonic.

Turning it on, he then makes a call to a certain blue hedgehog. "Hey, Sonic. You there?"

"Loud and clear, Tails. Do you need something?" Sonic's voice was heard over some loud noise that sounds like a harsh wind, most likely from him running.

"Yeah. Starlight said that traveling in separate groups is more efficient, especially since we know that Eggman is here and are after the emeralds too." Tails briefly explains the current situation.

"Well, groups of three worked out for us before." Sonic recalls their adventures against Metal Sonic back then as he said this.

"Three?" Twilight overheard that part, "I'm not sure about that, since it'll be hard to choose who would be in each trio."

"Maybe we won't have to." Applejack interjects with an idea, "How about we draw our names from a hat? Or in this case, my hat."

"Fine with me. I see the castle up ahead, I'll be there-" The transmission cuts off as a familiar boom was heard from outside.

"Wait for it." Tails simply said while unknowingly having a smirk on his face.

Next thing they knew, a blue streak speeds by as it went bouncing off the walls and leaps off the ceiling, briefly seeing an equally blue ball roll down the incline from the thrones and skid to a halt in front of the group before uncurling to reveal Sonic.

"Right now." He casually said, surprising most of the group already there with his quick arrival.

"Was that your plan? Running off so you can do a big entrance?" Rainbow assumes, though it's a possibility.

"Nope, I just like exploring." Sonic shrugs off.

Silver comes flying in soon after, landing on the ground as he spoke. "We would have been here sooner, but we met Twilight's Canterlot friends and lost track of time."

"You did? How are they?" Twilight asks.

"Doing great." Sonic answers before getting back on topic, "Now, let us form our teams."

Taking small sheets of paper and drawing their cutie marks on them, or symbols for Sonic and the others, before putting them in Applejack's hat that she held in her hoof. After shuffling them around a bit, Tails volunteers to pull them out before reaching in. Upon pulling one out, he unfolds it to see who he had.

"Twilight, you're first."

"Oh?" She honestly didn't expect to be picked so soon, but decides to go with it. "Guess that means I'm the leader?"

"Yeah. Now, the other two will be your partners." Tails clarifies for her.

Reaching back in, he pulls out two more sheets and unfolds one to see:

"Starlight and..." Starlight smiles at being the second one chosen.

Unfolding the second one, Tails was rather surprised upon seeing it.

"Sonic!?"

The blue blur was also surprised at this turn of events, which he eventually responds with a simple shrug. "Fine with me."

"You three are a team, then. Next up..." Tails pulls out another sheet and unfolds it, "Rainbow-"

"No way, I'm leader!?" Rainbow was rather excited at this, "Sweet, who do I have!?"

"Give me a second." Tails said as he pulls out two more sheets, unfolding one to see his mark. "Oh, I am."

Rainbow only blinks once before speaking, "Huh."

Tails knows what she's thinking and casually spins his tails fast enough to lift off the ground, surprising the ponies in the room.

"What!? How!?-" Twilight was confused by this until replacing this with Pinkie, "Don't question it, you'll only get a headache."

"All right, fellow flyer!" Rainbow cheers for the two-tailed fox.

The latter lands back on the ground before unfolding the second paper, "And Nat."

"Wait, what?" The green hedgehog wasn't sure how to feel about this.

"All right, I can work with that." Rainbow was good with her partners.

"That's another team. Next..." Tails reaches in to take out another sheet, unfolding it to see- "Blaze."

"Very well." She simply said, "Who shall I lead?"

Tails pulls out two more sheets and unfolds one, "Sora, you and Caliburn are with her."

"Sweet." He smiles at this, "Can't wait to work with you."

"And..." Tails unfolds the second one to see, "Fluttershy?"

The others look at her as she blinks in surprise, "Oh my..."

"Don't worry, we'll keep ya safe." Sora reassures her.

"Next team is..." Tails pulls out another sheet and unfolds it, "Silver."

"Really!?" He was understandably unsure about being a leader, "A-All right, I'll do my best."

"Your partners are..." Tails pulls out two more and unfolds both this time, "Knuckles and Rarity."

"That works splendidly." The latter was fine with it.

"All right, I got your back." The former reassures the two.

Tails now sees only two sheets left in her hat, "And by process of elimination, Pinkie Pie and Applejack are the last team."

"Yay!" The former grabs the latter into a hug, who nervously smiles at the idea of Pinkie leading a team.

"Now that we have our teams assembled, there's another matter we like to discuss." Princess Luna enters the conversation at this point, "Tell us more about these 'Eggmen' we are facing."

"Why not ask them yourselves?"

A new voice was heard, which Sonic and his co. recognizes, putting the group on edge as they look around for the source.

"Where are ya!? You usually like to showboat about your new schemes in person!" Sonic calls the voice out, knowing his nemesis well enough that he would do that.

"As much as I would love to do so, I'm afraid that I am quite busy at the moment. Fear not, as I have a message for you all." Dr. Eggman's voice answers, "As of right now, I couldn't help but listen to your little conversation. Thank you for forming your teams, as I now know who to look out for."

Tails went into his backpack and pulls out his goggles, putting them on to scan the entire room to find the source as now another voice enters the ring.

"But of course, why leave them out when it's just got interesting?" Blaze and Silver instantly recognizes Eggman Nega's 'polite' tone as he spoke, "Thanks to our research, we found such fascinating history and artifacts that we couldn't help but have in our collection."

"We know that isn't the real reason why you two came here, and working together again no less." Blaze points out, knowing their previous attempts.

"Ah yes, princess. How very perceptive." Eggman Nega sounded very sarcastic with those words, "Speaking of which, prepare for your retirements. As we will gladly take over in your 'absence' as we will show your worlds the real advancement of the future! Hee hee hee!" A high-pitched laugh ended his announcement as Dr. Eggman's voice came back.

"What he said. Not to worry of course, we'll be sure it's an offer you won't refuse." He casually mentions before turning serious, "I look forward to our 'game', Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Sure, despite how one-sided it already is." The blue blur casually retorts back.

"Ho ho ho!" Dr. Eggman does his signature laugh as Tails managed to find the source, flying up to one of the top corners near the door and pulls out a miniature camera before flying back down to show to the group. "You said that, yet you don't even know where I have placed my expertly hidden-"

His line was cut off as Tails presses a button on his goggles, activating a function that is likely hacking the device in his hand. After a brief moment, his goggle lens flashes green to show it was successful as he raises his wristwatch to his mouth.

"This announcement was brought to you by the incompetent Soft-Boiled Eggs, who has brought you such failures as the 'Destructive Duo' and the 'Jeweled Jokes of the Seven Seas'. Keep an eye out for their newest one-hit wonder, the 'Equestrian Escapades'. Spoilers, rule of three."

Turning off his wristwatch with a little smug smirk on his face, Sonic couldn't help but clap at his best bud's mockery of their enemies along with the others doing the same. He then does a confident bow in response to it before they got back on track, him placing the disabled camera in his backpack as they do.

"Looks like these 'Eggmen' are more calculating than we thought." Princess Celestia points out, "Which means we can't afford to lose any more time."

"We're on the same page, then." Sonic agrees with her there, "First things first, where are each team going?"

"That's where I come in." Tails crouches down and places his backpack on the ground in front before going into it, giving a brief explanation in the process.

"While you were sleeping, I was studying the wavelengths of the Cutie Map back at Twilight's Castle and came up with the idea of making mini maps for each of us in order to make our search easier. Our wristwatches also have this function now as a new app."

"Always prepared." Sonic compliments him as he searches his wristwatch for the app.

Tails pulls out a couple of wristwatches with most having different designs to help the ponies to be able to use them without much issues as Sonic pulls up the app, displaying a rather big hologram of the map of Equestria. Twilight and the others take a look at how accurate it was before Starlight spoke up.

"All right. If I remember correctly, one of the gems was located at Cloudsdale."

"My home? We'll go!" Rainbow volunteers her team, which everyone else didn't object at.

"Is this another kingdom?" Blaze asks, pointing at the Crystal Empire.

"Yes. It is a neighboring kingdom in the Frozen North that is ruled by Princess Cadence and Shining Armor." Princess Celestia briefly explains.

"Then is it possible that one of the emeralds may have appeared there?" She brings up a good point.

"If so, then your team can go. Since Fluttershy is with you, they'll know that you're allies." Twilight agrees with the notion.

Silver then notices a familiar setting, "Your world has a city? Like, a modern city?"

Following his gaze, he was looking at Manehattan as Rarity answers for him. "Yes we do, and it's quite the sight to see. If you like, I can give you a tour of the best places to visit."

"I have been curious about city life..." Knuckles admits.

"Then we'll take that one!" Silver declares.

"Ooh, isn't that Neighagra Falls!?" Pinkie points her hoof at the waterfalls nearby, "I've wanted to try out the barrel ride Twilight's Mom went on their vacation!"

"Really? That's your first choice?" Applejack wonders.

"I was just pointing it out, but since you said that... sure!" Pinkie answers.

Sonic looks upon the map during their conversations, seeing all kinds of locations he wants to see. Although, he finds his eyes looking at a certain area that his gut feeling is digging at him about until telling his new teammates about it.

"I know I'm not the leader, but this could be a place to start."

Twilight and Starlight look at what he's pointing towards, seeing a big forest that was closer to Las Pegasus than Ponyville.

"The Whitetail Woods? Wow, I haven't heard that name since the Iron Pony competition." The former recalls, "And it's already been that long..."

"Sounds interesting. Plus, if it's a gut feeling you're having, then something must be there." The latter adds from experience.

The hologram map then disappears right as Tails finishes handing out the wristwatches to the others. He even hands one to the princesses, at least just in case before bringing something else up.

"I know we have our destinations now, but I want to search the castle for anymore rotten eggs. We don't need the smell in here." Tails said as he spins his tails again to fly.

"Good point. That is seriously not cool!" Rainbow agrees as she heads off with the two-tailed fox.

As everyone else was heading out the throne room, Sonic notices that Nat is falling behind and pulls him aside.

"You all right, dude?" He asks the obvious question.

"M-Me? Yeah, totally not nervous or anything..." Nat wasn't very convincing with his lie.

"I told you before, man. That power is apart of you. And I've seen you're willing to help out when needed back in Ponyville." Sonic reminds him about, "That heart of gold will shine no matter what happens."

Nat wasn't sure how to respond to that, but sees what he means. "...I hope you're right."

Sonic simply nods before noticing how far behind they are, "Come on, we gotta catch up."

The blue blur then lead the green hedgehog out of the throne room with the latter having a little boost in confidence.

**And done! Sheesh, this was honestly a little tough to get through, but I managed.**

**After getting off the train, the group finds themselves met with Silver who didn't stay long since he was just looking around the town. Sonic joins in and the two go off as the rest heads to the castle.**

**The duo then meet up with Twilight's Canterlot friends, who were in the middle of a game, and eventually got them to give them a better tour of the town.**

**Now for the throne room scene. It was doing all right until after Sonic shows up, where I was a bit stuck on until coming to the teams idea. Of course, I didn't want to have obvious match-ups, so I shuffled around and here we are. After that, we have our first destinations to explore!**

**I'll be upfront with you guys. The new stories with this crossover are tempting to start with this in progress, but I really want to at least finish this one since some of you are interested with where this will go. So, I'll try and hang in there.**

**With that said, thanks for reading and see ya next chapter!**


End file.
